: Date: 30 /10/ 2018
Call for bipartisan action on industrial deaths
Responding to the recent release of the Senate Committee for the framework surrounding the prevention, investigation and prosecution of industrial deaths in Australia, the Chairman of the Safety Institute of Australia (SIA), Mr Patrick Murphy, acknowledged and applauded the work of the committee on this critical body of work and called on State and Federal governments to take action.
"This is a very important report for, work health and safety regulators, business owners, the work health and safety profession and all Australian workers and their families" he said.
Mr Murphy said that the SIA will be looking at all 34 Recommendations carefully to determine how they can assist Safe Work Australia and State and Territory Regulators to implement them as quickly as possible in order to address a range of risks of harm in Australian workplaces.
"Preventing harm is a primary legal and ethical responsibility for every Australian company, and the core purpose of the health and safety profession. Nobody expects to get hurt when they go to work, and yet three people every week lose their lives at work in Australia. That is utterly unacceptable, and we must be united in doing something about it" Mr Murphy said.
Many of these recommendations will have an impact on how businesses operate, how Regulators enforce compliance, and how the health and safety profession conducts its practice, and we must consider them seriously" said Mr Murphy.
Mr Murphy called on state, territory and federal governments, and opposition parties, to examine the report in a timely manner. "The Australian Government and several States will soon be entering election periods. The Recommendations of the Senate Committee's report deserve a considered response and ideally bipartisan support for their implementation if we are going to do justice to the brave stories shared with the Committee over the last few months by the relatives of deceased workers."
