INDEPENDENTS TO HEAR DIRECTLY FROM WORKERS AND FAMILIES ON SAFETY

26 October 2011

A Forum will be held in Adelaide today to put the case to the Legislative Council Independents that they should throw their support behind planned new work safety laws.

SA Unions Secretary, Janet Giles says that in the middle of Safe Work Week, it is important to put the safety of working South Australians at the top of the agenda.

"These planned new laws - which the Liberals are opposing - have been the subject of three years of national negotiation with unions and employer groups."

"For the first time, we could have nationally consistent safety laws to both protect working people and to give businesses certainty and consistency."

"But the state Liberals are putting politics first and leaving working people a long second."

"We are holding the forum so the Independents can hear the real stories of working people, their families and their colleagues, about the devastating effects workplace death and injury can have."

"The Greens Tammy Franks John Darley, Family First's Dennis Hood and representatives from the office of Kelly Vincent and Ann Bressington will all be in attendance."

"We thank them for agreeing to come along and hear these stories for themselves."

Ms Giles says that in the past year, ten people have died in their workplaces in South Australia and thousands more have been injured.

"What we want is simple - safer workplaces - so that no family ever has to go through the terrible tragedy of losing someone they love in a workplace accident."

The forum will include presentations from the Voice of Industrial Death (VOID) group, the Asbestos Victim's Association, Adelaide mother Andrea Madeley who lost her teenage son in a devastating industrial accident, and two construction workers, who will tell their story about seeing their friend and workmate die on site.

The Health Work and Safety Bill is currently before State Parliament and will be debated again in the House of Assembly on 8 November.  The Bill better protects working people, increases the fines for employers who disregard safety and supports the rights of union officials to enter worksites to address safety issues.