WorkChoices Bans Safety Courses

Date: 04 May 2006

Federal industrial laws are even worse for safety than claimed by Opposition leader Kim Beazley with workers losing the right to access paid external safety courses, according to a new legal analysis, says the CFMEU.

Construction industry training currently provided but outlawed under the Howard Government's new regulations includes: safety inductions for new workers; asbestos removal, first aid, safe scaffolding and rigging, safe use of plant and equipment including cranes, elevated work platforms and personnel and material hoists and training for worker safety
representatives.

With debate on the safety impact of the laws focussed on the Beaconsfield mining disaster, the CFMEU said today that its analysis of the laws suggests the impact on safety is even worse than has been suggested to date.

While the focus of this week's debate has been on 8.5(c) of the Prohibited Content section (Division 7.1) of the Regulations to Act, the real sting lies in the following clause, 8.5 (d).

That states that an agreement that provides workers with "paid leave to attend meetings (however described) conducted or made up of trade union members" is prohibited, with fines of $33,000 just for asking to have such a clause included during negotiations.

CFMEU Assistant National Secretary Dave Noonan said his legal advice was that this clause could capture any external safety course attended by union members.

"The right to paid training in these crucial safety skills could no longer be offered as part of an agreement - whether an employer wants to offer them or not," Mr Noonan said.

"The federal government has been attacking Kim Beazley for his analysis of the safety laws - the reality is they are worse than even he has suggested," Mr Noonan said.

"This is already a dangerous industry with 50 workers killed every year. Workplace relations minister Kevin Andrews needs to two things urgently: first, apologise to the Australian public for misleading them; and secondly, amend his laws to allow safety courses to be offered in the future."

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