Master Builders Australia has urged the Senate to reject any changes to the Commonwealth Work Health and Safety Bill, which was introduced to the House of Reps this morning. Also in this article, Master Builders has called for the Federal Safety Commissioner's accreditation scheme to be reviewed before harmonised laws take effect.
Employers should, from January 2012, urge contractors to conduct risk assessments for every task, even if they are not obliged under harmonised work health and safety laws to do so, OHS lawyer Jacqui Hawkins told attendees at a recent webinar.
Greens to push for union OHS prosecutions in all states; WorkSafe WA reports on fatality, fall-prevention fine and fatigue roadblock; and Essential safety news from around Australia.
The Commonwealth Work Health and Safety Bill will extend the definition of "worker" even further than the harmonised Bills of the states and territories, the Government has announced in calling for comments on provisions that will be unique to the Commonwealth jurisdiction.
Safe Work Australia chair Tom Phillips has hit back at claims the draft model Work Health and Safety Regulations are too complex and long, saying employers are only required to be up to speed on provisions that are relevant to their business.
The absence of risk management provisions and the hierarchy of controls in the model Regulations and Codes of Practice will result in a "clear and unambiguous diminution" of workplace health and safety standards, two prominent OHS experts say.
The draft model Work Health and Safety Regulations and Codes of Practice contain a "retrograde" definition of "manual task", an ambiguous rule for emergency plans and inadequate provisions for urinals, according to submissions made to Safe Work Australia.
The absence in the draft model Work Health and Safety Regulations of a requirement to use risk assessments in all situations could save employers millions of dollars without undermining safety, according to an impact statement released by Safe Work Australia.
