Safe Work Month

The Hon. J.E. HANSON (15:31): My question is to the Minister for Industrial Relations and the Public Sector. Will the minister inform the council about this year's Safe Work Month?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:31): I would be very, very happy to inform the honourable member about this year's Safe Work Month and I note the honourable member's lifelong commitment to the safety of people at work and his interest regularly each year in October, which is Safe Work Month, and it is—

The Hon. J.E. Hanson: It didn't work for you though.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: It wasn't at work. It was an opportunity for employers and workers across Australia to commit to creating safe and healthy workplaces. The theme for this year's campaign is Safety is Everyone's Business and as usual each week of the month is framed around a different theme. Week 1 at the start of October is focused on work health and safety fundamentals, getting back to basics by unpacking the fundamentals that everyone should know. This includes practically managing WHS risks, consulting with workers about work health and safety issues and training and support for workers to stay safe at work.

Week 2 is focused on psychosocial hazards and preventing psychological harm at work, encompassing World Mental Health Day. Week 3 is focused on risk management fundamentals, including how to identify hazards in the workplace and how to undertake work health and safety risk assessments. Week 4 is focused on how to effectively manage the risks of musculoskeletal injuries, one of the most common types of injuries.

This year's Safe Work Month events are coordinated by the regulator, SafeWork SA, which will be running a variety of different activities through Safe Work Month to align with the different weekly themes, including a number of webinars and culminating in something that I know a number of members of this chamber have taken part in before and that is the presentation of the Augusta Zadow Awards on 25 October. I look forward to informing the council, as I often do, about the winners of those awards in some detail in the weeks to come.