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WORK SAFETY ADVOCATE BERNIE BANTON AM IN ADELAIDE
31 October 2006
Australia's best known workplace safety advocate Bernie Banton AM is visiting Adelaide on Tuesday 31 October, to deliver a public address to mark Safe Work Week.
Mr Banton knows first hand the perils of bad work safety practices, as one of thousands of victims of the James Hardie asbestos scandal.
He is passionate about workers' rights, and will detail his vision for a safer working Australia at the public form at 5 pm at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Port Road, Hindmarsh.
It comes just weeks ahead of the much anticipated resolution of the James Hardie compensation case, which after many much publicised delays is now due mid to late November.
"James Hardie executives have shown themselves to be utterly reprehensible and inhuman because despite knowing the risks, they continued to treat workers as dispensable and then tried their hardest to dodge their responsibilities to compensate them," Mr Banton says.
"But they are not the only employers to have such attitudes. I think we need tough national laws that hold companies culpable for workplace deaths and injuries. Having met so many families who have lost loved ones, I firmly believe that company bosses should be fined and jailed for causing workers' deaths", he says.
"However, I am pessimistic, because the Federal government's new IR laws have actually undermined workplace safety rather than strengthened it. So instead we need to rely on the state governments to stand up for workers by implementing their own tough state laws".
"I cannot stress enough how vital it is for unions and management to work together to achieve proper risk management standards. History shows us that companies like James Hardie cannot be trusted - they have sacrificed thousands of lives. The federal government's new laws similarly abandon workers. It means unions are the most important element in preventing workplace deaths and injuries", Mr Banton says.
SA Unions Secretary, Janet Giles says South Australia has the dubious status as the nation's worst asbestos state.
"We have more asbestos victims per capita than any other state or territory. It is a mantle we sadly inherited from Western Australia as a result of the high death rates amongst WA victims".
"The lessons from this scandal should not, must not, go unheeded. We support Mr Banton's call for tougher national safety standards, and agree that if the federal government won't act, then the states must", Ms Giles says.
The South Australian government is to be applauded for its efforts until now, but there is more that can be done, and we are working with the government to see tougher standards become a reality.
"We are honoured that Mr Banton is sharing his experiences with us and hope his visit might be an added impetus for improvements her", she says.
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