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SAFE WORK
WEEK
23 October 2006
South Australia's SafeWork week is of particular importance this year as workers struggle to maintain strong safety standards against the onslaught of the new federal industrial laws.
SA Unions Secretary, Janet Giles says state laws are the last bastion of protection for vulnerable workers.
"The federal government has created demonstrably unsafe working environments with laws that strip workers of rights, and actually impose harsh penalties for workers and their representatives who dare to stand up for workplace safety."
"When workers have no protection against unfair dismissal they are less likely to refuse to do unsafe work."
"When unions are limited in the right of entry to the workplace or prosecuted for safety-related union activity then workers have less support in addressing safety issues."
"In this environment, tough state laws are crucial for the protection and survival of workers."
"SA Unions has been working with the state government to try to insulate workers from the worst excesses of the federal laws, and ensure they aren't forced to put their lives and wellbeing on the line for the sake of their jobs," Ms Giles says.
"We applaud the state government for increasing the penalties for negligent employers, responsible for workplace deaths and injuries, and hope that as such laws are progressively strengthened they will become a powerful deterrent against bosses cutting corners on safety."
"We have had an appalling spate of workplace accidents resulting in deaths and serious injury this year. It demonstrates why tough state laws are so important in the absence of any meaningful federal protections," Ms Giles says.
SafeWork speech by Janet Giles, Secretary SA Unions at the - launch of SafeWork 2006, 23 October
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