Page 807 - Week 05 - Thursday, 6 July 1989
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
safety issues arise; to establish a network for communication of occupational health and safety information throughout the organisation; and to organise activities such as training, health promotion, or the provision of expert assistance for staff throughout the organisation.
Primarily, the agreement accepts that the management of the ACT Community and Health Service, its employees and the trade unions to which they belong, recognise the importance of developing and maintaining healthy and safe working conditions in all workplaces. The agreement also acknowledges the importance of keeping the health and safety policies and standards in these workplaces under constant review. Of course, the review and updating of health and safety standards is an important feature of any occupational health and safety agreement.
The fundamental thrust of the document is that its goals will be best achieved through the joint participation of management, employees and their unions at all levels. In signing the agreement, management of the Community and Health Service has undertaken to regard all legislative standards and regulations on workplace safety as the minimum acceptable levels and will strive to improve all occupational health and safety standards.
At this stage, I should point out to members that, whilst the document is a record of the arrangements agreed between the service and the TLC, the agreement is also dependent on Federal Government policies. Certain criteria exist for plans such as those outlined in this agreement, in particular, that such arrangements are to be interim subject to further consideration of occupational health and safety issues by the Commonwealth.
I would like to remind members that the Labor Party, at both Federal and ACT levels, has an on-going commitment to ensure that workers are provided with working environments that provide a minimum of risk to their health and safety. The Federal Government has stated that arrangements such as this are to be implemented and maintained in a spirit of full consultation between the parties and, wherever possible, on the basis of full consensus. In addition, any agreement between managements and unions on the handling of occupational health and safety must recognise that the agreement does not negate management's responsibility for the efficient operation of the organisation and the provision of a safe and healthy working environment.
The agreement makes a distinction between health and safety, with most sections in the plan dealing with responsibilities and procedures for handling occupational health and safety matters. As the document states, this approach is especially suited to dealing with safety issues, but it is possible - and the agreement is evidence of this - to take a different approach where questions of health promotion are concerned. In relation to health promotion, as distinct from basic workplace safety, the
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .