Barnett needs to act quickly on worker safety laws

The Barnett/Grylls Government needs to prioritise worker safety and move urgently to adopt new harmonised Occupational Health and Safety Laws the Greens said today.

The comments came following the handover of petitions signed by over 1000 workers on the steps of Parliament House this morning.

“WA currently has the lowest penalties for breaches of worker safety in Australia,” said Alison Xamon MLC, Greens spokesperson on Occupational Health and Safety.

“And yet not only is this State Government dragging its heels on important improvements to these laws, worse they are seeking to deviate from the national provisions to keep Western Australia’s dubious record of having the lowest penalties in the country.

“They argue that higher penalties are too tough on employers.  The Greens response to that is that good employers won’t be affected no matter how high the penalty, that it will only capture those errant employers who choose to put their profits ahead of their employee’s lives.  These people deserve to receive strong penalties.

“The Barnett/Grylls Government likes to talk up their “tough on crime” credentials but it appears this doesn’t apply to employers who kill or seriously injure their workers.  These proposed laws have been debated at length over many years within COAG forums and now they have been finalised we should bring them in to law.  Instead the rest of the parliamentary year is being dominated by half-baked thought bubbles on changes to law and order.

“Workers in WA deserve more respect.  They deserve to be safe at work and they deserve to be able to go home at the end of the day alive.  Strong occupational health and safety laws will go some way towards achieving that, and this should be an absolute priority for Government, Ms Xamon concluded.

*Note* Hon Alison Xamon MLC Introduced the Occupational Health and Safety Bill 2009 which sought to include both the amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act which the Barnett Government has threatened to exclude as well as introduce a new offence of Industrial Manslaughter into the Criminal Code