Ministerial Statement

SAFEWORK SA

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for State/Local Government Relations) (14:31): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: Recently I gave a personal explanation on an issue regarding a particular hotel and its driveway. I think it would be of benefit to the chamber if I give some further information on this matter which, I might add, started as a joke at an Australian Hotels Association function in December last year, but which is something that the Hon. Mr Lucas has tried to make political mileage from. For the period of October 2001 to February 2011 a total of 42 claims were received by WorkCover SA for this particular hotel.

This unacceptably high number of claims for this particular workplace is why it was included in SafeWork SA's industry improvement program. This is a targeted initiative focusing on workplaces with a poor safety record. In fact, this initiative goes to the heart of Mr Lucas's concern about focusing on those workplaces that present the greatest risk to workers. Well, this is exactly what has occurred in this instance.

The industry improvement program examines the overall safety management system within a workplace. SafeWork SA occupational health and safety inspectors attend the workplace and examine the safety management system, as well as auditing particular hazards with a view to reducing accidents and injury rates. This is a positive measure designed to assist workplaces in reviewing all of their work practices and implementing appropriate controls to minimise the risk of injury.

In the case of this particular hotel, the inspectors reviewed all work practices, including those for the drive-through bottle shop. The inspectors developed an improvement plan for the hotel which, among other things, identified the need to control risks associated with the drive-through area. Specifically, the improvement plan stated:

Initially investigate methods of reducing the risk, including the provision of speed humps and signage (i.e. 5km/h) to reduce speed and implicit risks.

Importantly, I am advised that the improvement plan never stated that the hotel had to adopt high visibility vests. It beggars belief that it was mocked by this particular person at the association dinner when 42 incidents had been reported in the last 10 years.

As members of the chamber would be aware, the risk management approach is a fundamental principle of the state's occupational health, safety and welfare legislation and, indeed, makes good business common sense. Bottle shop workers can be exposed to a wide range of conditions that could increase the risk to their safety. These include impatient drivers, poor weather and substandard lighting, and people who may have varying degrees of intoxication. It is important that all employers undertake an adequate risk assessment of the entire workplace and identify and implement appropriate control measures to address any risks and prevent injuries before they happen.

Reports that SafeWork SA is threatening hotel owners over the high visibility vests are simply not correct. One hotel with an identified record of injuries was instructed to implement measures to reduce the risk of injury arising from moving vehicles in a work area. This instruction is entirely consistent with current laws that have been in place in South Australia for some time, noting that the provision of high visibility clothing is one measure among others that could be adopted. The fact of the matter is that the hysteria being whipped up by the Hon. Mr Lucas is groundless and offensive to the values that the community expects to see in our society.