OHS Bill amendments introduced

Amendments to the Building and Construction Industry Improvement Act 2005 were introduced into Parliament last week. The amendments were introduced under the Building and Construction Industry Improvement Amendment (OHS) Bill 2007.

The Bill will be applying the Australian Government Building and Construction OHS Accreditation Scheme to situations where building work is indirectly funded by the Commonwealth or a Commonwealth authority.

The amendments simplify the Federal Safety Commissioner's process for engaging federal safety officers. They also allow the Federal Safety Commissioner and his staff to disclose certain OHS information relating to the scheme to the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations.

A detailed explanation of the amendments can be viewed on the Parliament of Australia website.