December 2009 MONITOR
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Vol 13 Issue 4 December 2009 MONITOR Official publication of the Mining and Resource Contractors Safety Training Association Harmonisation of national OHS laws - MARCSTA’s response to the Draft Model Act In this issue... and Stage 1 Regulations History repeats with industry to MARCSTA’s response to the proposed Model Act clearly expressed strong pay for its safety inspectorate ...2 opposition to proposals for change which it believes will have negative Injunction on union official sends message to government on consequences for the occupational health and safety of workers in Western harmonisation proposals ............2 Australia. nsW initiative to ensure maintenance of certificate holder The aspects objected to were: competency in the coal sector ....3 Improved safety performance in the Us construction industry ......3 Deleting the words “occupational health” from the title of the Act. Do vision problems result in earlier Reason: The health of workers is becoming increasingly important in today’s deaths...........................................4 2008 Usa national study of the extended working hours environment with research around the world revealing changing workforce ....................4 that with people spending the greater part of their waking hours at work Healthy workplaces critical to long more attention needs to be paid to work-life quality. Deleting reference to term health ..................................5 allowing employees to feel at “occupational health” in the title ignores the known facts. home at their desks can boost productivity .................................5 Increasing the range and level of penalties. Living longer requires redesign of working life .................................5 Reason: The Robens Committee found 40 years ago that this approach was Worker health and wellbeing ....6 new model regulations for negative and inappropriate. No evidence has since been provided to the workplace chemicals ...................8 contrary. osHa releases guidance for silica control in construction ................8 Chemicals and noise - a hazardous Applying criminal law and imprisonment for occupational safety and health combination .................................8 breaches. student loses digits in art class in the UK ..........................................9 Reason: The process of prosecution and sanctions of the criminal law is slips, trips and falls injury rate in inappropriate to the majority of infringements of OHS law which arise mainly hospitals reduced ........................9 through carelessness, oversight, lack of knowledge or means, inadequate Recoiling polyethylene pipeline results in fatality in nsW ..........10 supervision or sheer inefficiency. Usa workplace injury and illness on the decline ............................10 The Robens Committee recognised this and no convincing evidence to the MaRCsTa aGM 2009 .................11 contrary has been put forward in the discussion paper. around the globe ......................12 Allowing union “officials” to enter workplaces and interfere with existing procedures for the management of occupational safety and health. Reasons: There are eminently satisfactory arrangements for managing safety and health in the workplace and there is no justification for interference by other parties, particularly as there is no requirement that these “officials” be required to demonstrate that they have competence in occupational health and safety. MARCSTA is a not-for-profit Association. There is no evidence that existing arrangements are inadequate or faulty. All proceeds are reinvested into the industry for future development of safety and training. Continued on page 2 The introduction of “representatives of a party” to the issue resolution process. History repeating itself with Reason: Once again, a proposal to alter the industry to again pay for its existing issue resolution process is without justification or foundation. The issue resolution safety inspectorate process, as recognised by Robens, is one involving The announcement by the Mines and Petroleum employers and employees and their safety and Minister at the recent Underground Mine health representatives. Emergency Competition in Kalgoorlie that the Using safety regulators to adjudicate where resources industry would be charged with the cost necessary has been shown to be a satisfactory of a further 72 bureaucrats to handle safety issues, independent solution. some $8 million, was a classical case of déjà vu. In recent history the first restructure of the mining Extending the enforcement powers of inspectors. inspectorate took place in 1986-1988 following seven fatalities in November/December 1985 and Reason: Western Australia has not experienced was met by increasing tenement charges to cover problems with the existing role and powers of the initial and ongoing costs (about $1.8 million in safety inspectorates. dollars of the day). The Robens Committee were quite definite about After 21 deaths in the 13 months to February 1990 the role of inspectors being “to prevent accidents a further injection of resources was made and as and ill-health and the promotion of progressively the major computer-based systems were further better standards at work through the provision developed additional charges were agreed to of information and skilled advice to industry and by industry which, once again, took the form of commerce.” increases in tenement charges. Providing unwanted police powers to inspectors The huge growth of the industry since that time is neither necessary nor appropriate. has meant that revenue to the Government has far exceeded the ongoing costs of maintaining the mines inspectorate. The discussion paper included a Regulatory It is important to remember that the increases in Impact statement which concluded that national tenement charges on those occasions were agreed to legislation might confer an overall marginal to by industry for specific purposes – the maintenance small net benefit for business. a careful read of a professional, well resourced inspectorate. of the Regulatory Impact statement would not take that conclusion seriously as no evidence is With history about to repeat itself industry will forthcoming in the document to support it. need to be careful that safeguards are put in place to ensure that further specific levies are used MaRCsTa’s full response can be found on our strictly for the purpose intended. Otherwise loss of website www.marcsta.com. corporate memory could see history repeated once again even though safety and health in the industry has never been better than it is today. Injunction on union official sends message to government on harmonisation proposals An injunction was granted barring a union official from engaging in unlawful industrial action which had nothing to do with any reasonable concern as to any imminent danger to the health or safety of any employee on the site. This should sound a clear warning to the WA Government of the consequences of adopting national harmonisation laws. Should the national proposals proceed union officials granted entry permits will be able to enter workplaces by simply giving 24 hours notice of their intention to do so. The misuse of this power without requiring the holders of entry permits to have any expertise in occupational safety and health would inevitably impact negatively on the management of OHS in the workplace. Source: Injunction on union boss, WA Business News, Page 8, 1 October 2009. 2 MARCSTA Monitor December 2009 NSW initiative to ensure Improved safety maintenance of certificate performance in the US holder competency in the coal sector construction industry According to an analysis of federal safety data The NSW Coal Competence Board have issued a released by the Associated General Contractors discussion paper in which it proposes a system of America (AGC), since the federal government which will provide a suitable mix of training switched to a safety oversight approach known and/or continuing professional development as “collaborative safety” in 1998, the national programmes according to the type of certificate construction fatality rate has declined 47 per cent of competence. and the number of recordable safety incidents by The mix will be determined by the general ongoing 38 per cent. training and development needs of the specified function for which the certificate is required. The approach creates incentives for companies to find and fix safety problems before incidents The system will support employers to ensure their occur while maintaining strong penalties for certificate holders performing specified functions companies that let safety problems lag until receive the necessary training and development someone is hurt. to remain competent. The implementation of the system is planned for The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released the first half of 2010. fatal occupational injuries data revealing that The discussion paper points out that no other fatalities in the private construction sector in Australian state has a system in place for ongoing 2008 declined 20 per cent from 2007. training and development of certificate holders. Source: EHS Today, 31 August 2009 The lack of specific requirements in the discussion paper would seem to leave the proposed scheme open to a range of possibilities and to manipulation by vested interests. This would seem to be the case with continuing professional development systems currently espoused by professional institutions across the world and is witnessed by