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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-02-24 Daily Xml
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WORKPLACE SAFETY

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:35): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Industrial Relations a question relating to workplace safety.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Six years after the 2004 death of Daniel Nicholas Madeley in a workplace accident, SafeWork SA commenced a compliance project to identify the number of horizontal and vertical borers at South Australian workplaces. The project commenced in May 2010, the same month in which the coronial inquest into Mr Madeley's death commenced. On 9 February 2011, the Coroner in his report stated:

Given that the project started in May 2010 and it is not yet complete in February 2011, it is fair to say that the project is hardly proceeding expeditiously. In my opinion, some greater sense of urgency should be applied to this project...

Given the rate of site visits in the first five months of the compliance project, this would see the visits being completed in a further 3½ years. In answer to a question on this issue on 20 February, the minister assured the council that he would not be 'rushed into a precipitous or foolish response'. My questions are:

1. Can the minister assure the council that he does not regard increasing the urgency of the SafeWork compliance project as precipitate or foolish?

2. What progress has been made with the compliance project?

3. What action has the minister taken to ensure that the project is completed with the utmost urgency?

The Hon. B.V. FINNIGAN (Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for Gambling) (14:37): In relation to the findings of the Coroner regarding the death of Mr Madeley, I have accepted the Coroner's two recommendations, and there will be a meeting of the SafeWork SA Advisory Committee next week, as I understand. I will be attending that and introducing myself to the committee members but also speaking about that. I have already met with Mr Tom Phillips, the chair of the committee, and communicated to him that I have asked the committee to, in accordance with the Coroner's recommendations, investigate the inspection regime before and after 5 June 2004.

I have also met with the Attorney-General and his officers regarding the Coroner's suggestion, which is in relation to families being able to elect whether to go down the road of a coronial inquest or whether to continue with the potential for occupational health and safety related prosecutions. He will be providing me with some advice on what he regards in relation to that matter. I have also asked the Coroner if there is any further information he wishes to put to me or if he wishes to meet with me to discuss the matter and some of the issues that I think are raised by that.

In relation to the audit, as the honourable member knows, when evidence was heard at the inquest relating to these horizontal borers, SafeWork SA implemented an audit program to identify the number of horizontal and vertical borers at workplaces, and vertical borers were included within the scope of the project. The compliance project involved extensive research to identify where this equipment is used and workplace inspections to assess compliance with the safety standards.

Of course, there is not necessarily a register of equipment held in every workplace, so if a particular machine or item has been identified as being involved in an accident—particularly a frightful accident like this one—it is a matter of some time and work to identify where those machines are.

As far as I am aware, I am advised that the compliance audit is continuing, but I can find out further information as to exactly how many workplaces they believe have yet to be identified as part of that. As I indicated, one of the problems is that we do not necessarily know where all the machines of a particular type are, but this is a relatively specialised machine. I am aware that there are quite a number that have been inspected, and I can find out further details about the actual numbers involved.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Wade has a supplementary.

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