WORKPLACE SAFETY

Mr SIBBONS (Mitchell) (15:56): Today I wish to talk about one of my passions that has consumed all of my working life: workplace safety. We all know workplace injury and disease destroys the quality of life of far too many in Australian communities. In fact, 7,000 die each year from work-related causes. Every two to three minutes someone in Australia is injured seriously enough to lodge a workers compensation claim. There are almost 690,000 work-related incidents, including disease, injuries and fatalities.

The construction industry is one of the highest risk industries in Australia and has an unacceptably high level of workplace fatalities, also injury and disease due to the nature of the work. The construction industry ranks in the top five for both the number of fatalities in the workplace and the incidence of workplace injury resulting in time off work on workers compensation. Correspondingly, the industry has one of the highest workers compensation premium rates in Australia.

Tragically, last week a construction worker was crushed and another worker injured after a crane lifting a large steel beam slipped and fell when the soft sling broke. My heart felt condolences go to the family, friends and workmates of the worker. I understand that the construction industry has been wary of the use of soft slings on worksites for many years due to the nature of the material. It is difficult to examine for wear and fatigue and can fail if undetected, whereas the traditional chain and wire slings are easier to visually inspect and will show defects and weakness, allowing workers to determine whether the sling is safe for use.

The use of soft slings on busy construction sites is subjected to many variables such as being left on the ground and driven over by all sorts of equipment, environmental conditions, and they can weaken and fail without notice, and often with deadly consequences. Soft slings are reportedly overused in a construction site. Under occupational health and safety principles we should be engineering out hazards. This brings me to the design stage of the plant and material. We should be engineering lifting points to attach eye bolts and lifting lugs, etc., to allow for safe and controlled lifting. It may add a cost to the job, but what price do we put on life?

Many protections and workers' rights we take for granted today were fought for and won by unions. These include workers compensation, rest breaks, protective clothing, restrictions on heavy lifting, licensing and training, as well as bans on asbestos and dangerous chemicals; and the list goes on and on.

As you can see, the trade union movement has been, and continues to be, at the forefront of workplace safety. Statistics clearly show that workplaces with active unions are safer. The unions' call to have soft sling bans on construction sites should be debated as a matter of urgency. I am pleased to see that the employer involved in this tragic accident has suspended all use of soft slings. To conclude, I would also encourage employers that are using soft slings to review their lifting procedures and resolve to remove them from their work practices. We need to have the debate to legislate to remove soft slings.