WA miners must fight “backward” eastern safety scheme push

The safety of Western Australia’s miners may be compromised if the NSW model of workplace safety is adopted Australia-wide, an OHS expert has warned.

The WA government has agreed to work together with the federal government and other states to adopt a common approach to workplace safety. Unions are pressing for more employers to be prosecuted after an injury, a move which the director of safety and health for the Mining and Resource Contractors Safety Training Association, Patrick Gilroy, says would hurt Western Australian workers.

Pointing to workers compensation statistics ahead of his 13 August address to the WA Safety Conference, Patrick Gilroy says the NSW system of aggressive prosecutions has failed.

"In 2005/06, 459 NSW employers were prosecuted for safety breaches compared to just 39 in WA," he said, "but NSW's injury rates are 27 per cent higher than Western Australia's. Simply throwing the book at employers isn't enough."

"Victoria and Western Australia, which have the lowest rate of prosecutions also have the lowest rates of injury and disease and, importantly, enjoyed the greatest reduction in average workers’ compensation premium rates over the three years to June 2006 by a wide margin."

Specifically, Gilroy said, WA's mining sector had achieved remarkable safety gains compared to other industries.

"Mining's workers compensation premiums are less than half of those in construction and a little more than a third of those in agriculture," he said. "That's not because mining is intrinsically safe either – you're dealing with 200 tonne trucks and working underground in the dark with heavy machinery, after all – the mining industry has lifted safety by empowering the workforce."

Mr Gilroy said the industry's record of training of safety and health representatives underscored mining's consultative approach. While there were 5.15 representatives per thousand construction employees, mining boasted 27.88 per thousand.

"Why is the importance of electing and educating safety and health representatives not recognised by major industry sectors?" Gilroy asked.

"The Victorian Government are now demonstrating that consultation, participation and the collective involvement of employers, workers and their representatives can have significant workplace safety and health benefits, something that has been evident in the mining industry here in Western Australia for 20 years.

"Proposing to increase prosecutions to improve occupational safety and health is misguided and foolhardy. It would be crazy for WA to take safety backwards 20 years to NSW's standards."

Patrick Gilroy will address the WA Safety Conference, which runs from Tuesday August 12 to Thursday August 14 at the Perth Convention Exhibition Centre. The conference is presented by the Safety Institute of Australia in WA and sponsored by the Department of Consumer and Employment Protection, Government of Western Australia. For more information, visit www.wasafetyshow.com, email or phone Australian Exhibitions & Conferences on 03 9654 7773.

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