Safe Work Australia members have endorsed by majority six further model Codes of Practice, but the controversial Code on preventing and responding to workplace bullying is yet to be finalised.
In a meeting in Sydney on Friday, SWA's 15 tripartite members endorsed the following harmonisation Codes of Practice, "subject to minor technical and editorial changes":
- Safe Design of Building and Structures;
- Excavation Work;
- Demolition Work;
- Spray Painting and Powder Coating;
- Abrasive Blasting; and
- Welding and Allied Processes.
These and the six following Codes, which were endorsed by SWA at earlier meetings, would soon be sent to the Ministerial Council for approval:
- First Aid in the Workplace;
- Managing Risks in Construction Work;
- Preventing Falls in Housing Construction;
- Managing Electrical Risks in the Workplace;
- Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals; and
- Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace.
The Code of Practice, Preventing and Responding to Workplace Bullying, was "still under review", an SWA spokesperson told OHS Alert.
The draft version of the bullying Code was censured by both unions and employers when it was released for public comment in September 2011.
As lawyer Michaela Moloney, a Middletons special counsel, said in a Boardroom Radio webcast in January this year, unions believed the Code didn't go far enough because single instances of inappropriate behaviour - which could be harmful to people's health and safety - were not included in the Code's definition of "bullying".
Employer groups, on the other hand, felt that it was inappropriate to deal with bullying in a Code of Practice, and raised concerns about the draft Code's "suggestion that restructuring and outsourcing could amount to inappropriate job insecurity and change", she said.
Moloney said it was likely that changes would be made to the bullying Code, and that it was possible a second draft would be released for public comment.
The SWA spokesperson said the Codes on managing fatigue and tree trimming, which were also released for comment last September, were similarly still under review. (Click here to see the original draft versions of the above 15 Codes.)
Five further Codes and new Exposure Standard in the pipeline
According to the communiqué from Friday's meeting, SWA members agreed to release the following five draft Codes of Practice for a 12-week public-comment period in early April 2012:
- Safe Design, Manufacture, Import and Supply of Plant;
- Working in the vicinity of Overhead and Underground Electrical Services;
- Traffic Management in Workplaces;
- Scaffolding Work; and
- Formwork and Falsework.
SWA also noted that there had been "progress towards the finalisation" of the draft Work Health and Safety Regulations for the mining sector.
Further, members agreed that a package on proposed changes to the Workplace Exposure Standard for Airborne Contaminants for Synthetic Mineral Fibre be released for an eight-week public-comment period on 16 April 2012.
