Page 2006 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 15 May 2013
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MR CORBELL: It is about recognising that parties in the workplace—workers, labour and the employers—have roles to play. But it is also about recognising that the overriding legal responsibility for a safe workplace rests with those who are in charge of the workplace. That is what the law says. That is what case law over time, what the common law over time, has also determined—that it is those who are ultimately in charge of the workplace who have the overriding safety duty. That is employers. There is no getting away from that. They are the people legally in charge of the premises. They have the overriding safety duty.
The report by Lynelle Briggs and Mark McCabe highlights that there are a range of things that need to be done which can only be led by those with the legal power and authority—the employer, the person in charge of the property, the work site, the construction site, the building site. That is where the authority rests. That is why the government has said consistently that we urge and expect those in industry, those who are representing employers, to take the lead in reminding their members, in educating their members and potentially even in sanctioning their members to abide by and uphold their responsibilities for safe workplaces.
Yesterday I was reviewing the circumstances of one of the four tragic deaths that have occurred in the ACT over the past 18 months or so. Without going into the specifics, what I can say, and what is clear to me, is that there are still employers in the ACT who in my view are not doing what other employers do as a matter of course to make their work sites safe and to reduce—significantly reduce—the capacity for someone to be seriously injured or killed on their work site.
There are still employers in this town who will not follow best practice. There are still employers in this town who will ignore the need for commonly accepted practices that other employers do put in place as a matter of course and which regrettably, where they fail to do so, can lead to the potential for injury or death. It is that culture that we have to try to change.
The government has accepted all of the recommendations of the Briggs-McCabe report, even those recommendations which are the responsibility of industry to implement. What we have said in relation to those is that the government itself cannot lead on that, but industry must. We have sat down with industry, the Work Safety Commissioner in particular has sat down with industry, and said, “What are you going to do to uphold your side of the bargain?”
I am pleased to say there have been a number of positive developments in that respect. The MBA and the HIA have shown a willingness to engage in this matter and to put in place a range of steps, perhaps not as uniformly as I would have liked to have seen as the minister responsible. Nevertheless, they have taken steps. I mention in particular the response of the MBA. To highlight the situation, they are going to engage additional education capacity within their organisation to educate, inform and advise their members on safety. This is a welcome development. It is a welcome development. Equally, the response of the HIA to say that they are prepared to develop guidance material for their members on issues around work safety is also very welcome.
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