Page 2455 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 31 July 2018
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The bill strengthens work health and safety legislation. As Mr Wall has pointed out, it is, indeed, a deviation from national harmonised laws. We have done that before; other states have done that before when there is a gap that needs strengthening. As the Assembly is aware, the government is committed to ensuring that Canberra’s workers operate in a healthy and safe environment. Unfortunately, our experience with the construction industry is that this is not always the case. For this reason, the government has adopted a multifaceted approach to improving safety outcomes in the industry, of which legislative change is just one element.
In addition to the changes proposed in this bill, the Minister for Regulatory Services, Mr Ramsay, and I recently initiated a wide-ranging independent review into work health and safety oversight in the territory. Work also continues via the tripartite subcommittee of the Work Safety Council on the development of a safety strategy for the construction industry. Of course, WorkSafe ACT continues its collaborative work with New South Wales colleagues addressing issues that are rife in the construction industry, such as risks of fall from height which we know can very easily lead to severe injury or even death.
There is no doubt that the construction industry is dangerous. We hear this in the stories from workers and their unions, and we see it in the data. The construction industry continues to perform poorly when it comes to health and safety outcomes, both nationally and in the territory. When compared to other industries, construction has a high rate of serious injuries and fatalities. This is why construction is one of Safe Work Australia’s priority industries in the Australian work health and safety strategy 2012-22. Construction work is inherently risky, but this does not mean that we should accept high injury rates. The fact that there are more identifiable risks means that we must do more to keep construction workers healthy and safe. Safety must be given the highest priority. That is why this bill is before the Assembly today.
As acknowledged in the Australian work health and safety strategy, continued improvement in work health and safety requires ongoing collaboration and cooperation between all parties. Workers and their unions should be genuinely consulted in matters that relate to health and safety because we know that when workers and unions are involved in the decision-making process the decisions are the better for it. This bill requires effective, ongoing and meaningful consultation on major construction projects.
As I touched on when I presented the bill to the Assembly, last year RMIT University evaluated safety culture in the ACT construction industry and identified barriers to improving health and safety. One of the RMIT University findings was that the quality and effectiveness of formal consultation mechanisms was patchy. This is a missed opportunity. We know that there are many benefits of consultation and cooperation. Consultation is an important part of the risk management process. Seeking meaningful input from workers improves the effectiveness of safety procedures and creates shared ownership of these issues. Formal consultation mechanisms help workers raise concerns, express their views, and contribute to decisions about health and safety in their workplaces.
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