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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-10-18 Daily Xml
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SAFE WORK WEEK

The Hon. J.M. GAZZOLA (16:10): My question is to the Minister for Industrial Relations. What are the some of the highlights for Safe Work Week, which commences next week?

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for State/Local Government Relations) (16:11): I thank the honourable member for his very important question and acknowledge the many years that the Hon. Mr Gazzola spent in the industrial relations sphere. I am looking forward to Safe Work Week 2011, which is South Australia's premier event to educate the community on the need to stay safe at work, and commences next week, running from 24 to 28 October.

This year's program consists of more than 70 free information sessions at the Education Development Centre at Hindmarsh. These have been tailored to meet the needs of a range of stakeholders in the work environment, including employers, employees, occupational health and safety professionals, contractors, health and safety representatives, and human resource personnel. The program also caters to specific sectors that have acute workplace safety issues. Hence, there are valuable sessions on offer that deal with issues such as manual handling, hazardous chemicals and risk management.

While there is something in the program for everyone with an interest in occupational health and safety, there has been a very strong interest in the highlight events, such as the mock occ health and safety dispute and the mock Industrial Court trial. The mock occ health and safety dispute will feature a simulated work health and safety provisional improvement notice dispute to raise employer and employee awareness of risk management responsibilities under the proposed work health and safety laws, while the mock Industrial Court trial will provide a realistic look at how a safety matter is dealt with in the South Australian Industrial Court.

I can also inform the chamber that Safe Work Week has already been to the regional areas of the state, with 48 presentations made this year to over 2,500 people. These have been delivered at times and in places that better accommodate the needs and schedules of our regional workplaces and industries. Alongside this, 274 businesses have also signed up to receive the Take 10@10 packages. These packages provide training material on 12 safety topics of concern to most workplaces. Participants can then discuss these topics in their own space and environment, meaning tens of thousands more South Australians can participate in workplace safety awareness training beyond those attending the Safe Work Week sessions in metropolitan Adelaide.

Alongside the prevention and enforcement activities of SafeWork SA, Safe Work Week is another key part of this government's efforts to achieve our strategic plan target regarding greater safety in South Australian workplaces. Appropriately, and in the spirit of consensus that should guide all workplace safety activities, Safe Work Week 2011 is presented by the SafeWork SA Advisory Committee, in partnership with SafeWork SA, SA Unions, Business SA and WorkCover SA.

I urge employers, employees and health and safety representatives from a range of organisations to continue to register for these important free workshops on the SafeWork SA website, including the Take 10@10 training initiative.

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