SAFE WORK WEEK

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO (14:51): Can the Minister for Industrial Relations provide an update on the plans for Safe Work Week 2012 and entries received for the Safe Work Awards?

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for State/Local Government Relations) (14:52): I thank the honourable member for her question, and I acknowledge her many years of concern for safe workplaces. It gives me great pleasure to provide the chamber with an update on the preparations for the upcoming Safe Work Week 2012. Safe Work Week is South Australia's annual event for educating the community on occupational health and safety and the need to stay safe at work. The event will be held from 22 to 26 October 2012 and will include a range of events across metropolitan and regional South Australia.

This year's Safe Work Week will have a strong emphasis on the implementation of the harmonised work health and safety legislation and on managing hazards in the context of a new national system. The Safe Work Week program will again present an opportunity for SafeWork SA to provide information and promote safe work practices aimed at reducing work-related death, injury and disease in South Australia.

This year, in the interest of delivering a more varied and dynamic event, we are pleased to welcome on board the South Australian Farmers Federation, the Australian Industry Group and the Master Builders Association of South Australia, who join our existing event partners, WorkCover SA, SA Unions and Business SA.

A variety of free workplace safety workshops will be held throughout the week, suited to both business and individual needs. Registration is easy and it can be submitted online at the SafeWork SA website. This should assist in reaching a wider audience through increased accessibility.

The Safe Work Week program culminates with the Safe Work Awards, which celebrate and publicly recognise South Australia's true workplace safety champions. Applications for the Safe Work Awards have now closed, and we have once again received a range of entries of a very high calibre. It is most pleasing to see that businesses of all sizes, work groups and individuals continue to strive to meet our shared goals of safer working lives, workplaces and work practices in South Australia. Entries have been received for the following award categories:

Best Workplace Health and Safety Management System, which recognises demonstrated commitment to continuous improvement of workplace health and safety through the implementation of an integrated system approach;

Best Solution to an Identified Workplace Health and Safety Issue, which recognises excellence in developing and implementing a solution to identify a workplace health safety issue;

Best Workplace Health and Safety Practices in a Small Business, which recognises high standard workplace health and safety practices in small business; and

Best Individual Contribution to Workplace Health and Safety. This award recognises individuals who have made an exceptional difference to health and safety.

State finalists and winners will be announced at a gala dinner on Friday 26 October 2012 at the Adelaide Convention Centre. I look forward to updating the chamber of the 2012 Safe Work Awards winners after this event.