Empowering workers to build a culture of safety in ACT construction
28 June 2018
ACT Government: More worker training and
consultation will be required on major construction sites in the
ACT,
under new
work health and safety legislation introduced in the
Legislative Assembly today.
The Work Health and Safety Amendment Bill 2018 will apply to major
construction projects with a contract price over $5 million and require
employers to:
-
establish work groups in consultation with eligible unions;
-
facilitate the election of Health and Safety Representatives;
-
provide training to those elected Health and Safety Representatives;
-
establish a Health and Safety Committee; and
-
ensure Health and Safety Committee members received appropriate training.
The changes recognise that the effectiveness of our
WHS legislation depends on our ability to be dynamic and responsive to
the experience of workers and their representatives.
The
ACT Government knows that a workplace where workers are supported by
union representatives is a safer workplace and will continue to support
initiatives that strengthen unions’ critical role in workplace health
and safety.
This is particularly important at a time when the Federal Liberals and
Minister for Jobs and Innovation, Michaelia Cash, continually seek to
undermine the ability of unions to represent workers and protect their
workplace safety and rights.
The ACT Government is committed to continual improvement to ensure the
highest possible standards of workplace health and safety. Workers
should be given the highest level of protection against harm to their
health, safety and welfare from hazards and risks arising from work.
The amendments go above and beyond what is provided for in the national
harmonised WHS laws to raise the standard of communication and
consultation on health and safety in the construction industry.
The new legislation was developed following a review into the ACT
construction industry’s work health and safety culture, conducted by the
Royal
Melbourne Institute of
Technology (RMIT) in 2017, which suggested that health and safety
culture could be improved with more meaningful consultation with workers
on workplace safety.
Empowering workers and their representatives to have a stronger say on
workplace health and safety issues and providing more training to health
and safety representatives and committees will help drive improvements
in the culture of safety on ACT construction sites.
The legislation that has been introduced today will be debated in the
coming months and is anticipated to come into force on 1 January 2019.
--ENDS--
Source: ACT Government - www.cmd.act.gov.au
Contact: Tim Cooke (02) 6207 1185
External Links: N/A
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