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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-10-28 Daily Xml
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Safe Work Week

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (15:12): My question is directed to the Minister for Industrial Relations. Can the minister inform the house about Safe Work Week?

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice Reform, Minister for Planning, Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Minister for Industrial Relations) (15:12): Yes, I can.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.R. RAU: You don't need to start; it's not there.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Just let's wait and see. You read quietly to yourself, and I will read to everybody else and, if we have said the same thing at the end, we will have a chat about it, but I think you are going to find it's quite different.

Mr Marshall: Do one paragraph each.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: I am prepared to do that. Providing advice and education about workplace safety is a key priority for the state's work health and safety regulator, SafeWork SA. I am pleased to advise that Safe Work Week—South Australia's annual major work health and safety event—commenced on Monday and concludes this Friday 31 October.

Safe Work Week forms part of the national program to promote effective work health and safety practices. It provides free information sessions to improve knowledge and practice across workplaces as well as to address key and emerging issues. This year, more than 40 events are being held across multiple venues including Tonsley TAFE, Mercury Cinema Adelaide, Sunnybrae Function Centre at Regency Park, and GM Holden at Elizabeth. A diverse range of topics are presented by SafeWork SA personnel in collaboration with individuals and organisations from complementary fields of expertise.

Mr Knoll: Don't forget the awards Friday night.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: I will come to that eventually. Information sessions will address the myriad social issues affecting work, such as drugs and alcohol, workplace bullying and work-life balance. They will also consider hazard and risk management, creating a responsible safety environment, and workplace safety laws. The full Safe Work Week 2014 program is available on SafeWork's website, which might be what the gentlemen were looking at, with sessions filling quickly.

People can also improve health and safety outcomes in their workplace by hosting their own event in Safe Work Week and taking advantage of SafeWork online resources. At the risk of using a cliché, we all know prevention is better than cure, and so improvements in reducing the level of injuries will not only assist in providing a safe and productive workplace but will also contribute towards achieving a sustainable return-to-work scheme, which is something I am sure everyone is interested in.

Safe Work Week concludes on the 31st with the presentation of the prestigious Safe Work Awards at the Adelaide Convention Centre which have had a record number of entries this year. Safe Work Week provides an excellent opportunity for people to improve what they do and how they do it to make their workplace as safe as possible. As work health and safety is everyone's responsibility, I encourage everybody to get involved in Safe Work Week.

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