Implementing " Work Safety " Standards !

When someone leaves  to go to work in the morning they should have a reasonable expectation of returning home alive later that day.  Unfortunately work place accidents are a common cause of death in Australia and in many cases the cause is unsafe working conditions.

We have a mass of rules and regulations in place to achieve safety standards but when these are breached - and someone dies -  there is no law in place to convict and punish the person responsible. Public pressure has been mounting to pass " industrial manslaughter " laws to make employers responsible for ensuring that the workplace is safe for those they employ.

This is becoming reality in the other states.  Queensland  introduced industrial manslaughter laws in 2017 and the ACT in 2004.  The Northern Territory, Western Australia and Victoria are in the process of passing similar laws but New South Wales has rejected this option.   The minister responsible has claimed such a law would only serve as a " catchy title ".

In particular, industrial safety laws would be pertinent to the building industry.   In this day and age the " builder " is little more than the " project manager " who contracts with specialist companies who provide the services that put the structure together.  A vast array of individual firms with particular work specialities tender their services and usually the lowest price wins.   That lowest price often comes at the cost of safety.  Deficient equipment and short cuts taken are at the expense of workers lives.

This should be a law that makes the company with the overall management of a building site responsible for ensuring that sub contractors meet industry standards.  Equipment deficiencies and poor work practices should not be condoned on a price quoted basis.  The " builder " would need to provide supervision to ensure that sub contractors were meeting standards.

In the event of a death, the builder would need to prove to a court that the required safety standards were enforced and the sub contractor could face prosecution for whatever lapse caused the accident.  It would be up to a court to apportion blame on its merits but failure to provide a safe worksite that results in the death of a worker is clearly manslaughter.

There would be a clear incentive for building companies to employ sub contractors with a reputation for ensuring high work standards in preference to just the price offered.  The cost of the supervision needed if a contractor with a dodgy safety record was chosen would need to be taken into account when tenders were considered.

There is the expectation that public pressure will see this issue return to the NSW parliament.  It seems likely we will soon be the only state lacking the will to protect workers lives from avoidable workplace accident and that is clearly unacceptable  !