Issue Date:  -  Wednesday, 10 November 2004

Western Australia enters new era of workplace safety

Effective new laws to crack down on unsafe or unhealthy workplaces and help protect workers from injury have been passed by State Parliament.

Consumer and Employment Protection Minister John Kobelke said the most comprehensive reforms to occupational safety and health (OSH) since the 1980s were voted through the Legislative Council last night.

“These new laws put the industrial cowboys on notice and will support the growing number of employers who take safety and health seriously,” Mr Kobelke said.

“The Gallop Government is committed to creating safer communities and making Western Australian workplaces safer and healthier is a key part of our strategy.

“Many employers know the value, in personal and commercial terms, of providing safe and healthy workplaces for their employees, but the tougher penalties for unsafe or dangerous workplaces now provide a bigger deterrent for those who don’t comply.”

The Minister said workplace deaths, injuries and disease brought suffering and stress to workers and their families and lost time cost industry $300million a year.

“The new OSH Act brings Western Australia more into line with penalties applying in other States and it is the first time in a decade that maximum fines have been increased,” he said.

“A corporation convicted on a serious charge will face a maximum penalty of $500,000 for a first offence, two-and-a-half times the current maximum.  A subsequent offence will incur a maximum penalty of $625,000.

“As well as the bigger fines, the option of jail has now been included for accountable senior managers committing offences, which involve gross negligence.”

Mr Kobelke said the new laws would also allow for appropriately trained safety and health representatives to be able to issue Provisional Improvement Notices (PINs), where they believed an employer was contravening the Act or Regulations.

“Under the previous Government, the Liberals delivered five Budget deficits in eight years and failed to respond adequately to calls for safer and healthier workplaces, but Labor has not only balanced the Budget every year, it has been able to fund an increased number of safety inspectors and undertaken extensive consultation to produce much more effective laws to keep workplaces safer,” the Minister said.