Employer Associations have been lobbying Federal and State governments for years to adopt a single national OH&S system claiming that confusion and red tape are preventing good OH&S Laws.
When Howard got control of the Senate we saw what the employers real agenda was. Howard stripped back worker's rights and benefits under Federal OH&S Law and changed the federal Workers Compensation Act to allow some National employers to escape from the State laws to Federal laws; Trade Union right of entry, the right of unions to represent their members, the right for Unions to sue under NSW law and escape industrial manslaughter legislation being adopted to varying degrees by some governments.
Unions have supported harmonisation, not for the same reasons as employers to reduce workers rights to the worst OH&S Law in Australia, but in fact to use the harmonisation agenda to increase the rights of all workers to the best OH&S law operating in Australia as the basis of any national OH&S Model law. At the moment some workers are worse off than others merely because of the State or Territory they work in, or because they are covered by a weakened Commonwealth OH&S system.
What do we want out of harmonisation?
Trade Unions advocated a rights based approach to OH&S.
This means workers should have:
- A RIGHT TO a safe and healthy working environment
- A RIGHT TO KNOW what hazards they are exposed to
- A RIGHT TO REFUSE unsafe work
- A RIGHT TO BE INVOLVED in and negotiate how hazards are identified, assessed, eliminated or controlled, monitored and reviewed at work.
- A RIGHT TO ACT to protect and advance their health and safety at work including determining who represents them and participate in activities that will increase their rights at work in relation to OH&S.
This approach and the Trade Union movement's position on what should be the minimum standards in any harmonised model OH&S Laws are outlined in the Union Charter of Workplace Rights that was endorsed at the 2007 ACTU National OH&S and Workers Compensation Conference in Brisbane.
At the recently concluded 2008 National OH&S and Workers Compensation Conference the Union movement once again endorsed the Charter as the basis of any model OH&S law together with the establishment of an independent tri-partite National OH&S body to oversee effective OH&S policies are adopted throughout Australia.
Actions:
Could you please place the attachments on your OH&S/safety Notice Boards to facilitate awareness and interest in our quest to achieve and protect our OH&S laws.
