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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-09-06 Daily Xml
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SAFEWORK SA

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY (15:04): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Industrial Relations questions relating to SafeWork SA.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY: A few months ago the federal government commissioned KPMG to undertake a review of the Fair Work Australia investigation into the Health Services Union Craig Thomson affair. The report was finalised in August and, amongst other things, Fair Work Australia was found to be underresourced and ill equipped. My questions are:

1. Relating this back to SafeWork SA, can the minister advise whether SafeWork SA's 89 inspectors are adequately resourced, equipped and prepared for any new responsibilities that may result if the Work Health and Safety Bill is passed?

2. Can the minister advise whether any of SafeWork SA's 89 inspectors hold relevant tertiary qualifications and, if so, can the minister give details about these qualifications?

3. Can the minister advise whether SafeWork SA's inspectors and investigators hold any relevant industry experience and, if so, can the minister provide details of this experience?

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for State/Local Government Relations) (15:06): I would like to thank the member for his question. SafeWork SA budgeted full-time equivalent positions comprise 89 occupational health and safety inspectors and 34 industrial relations inspectors. Help centre staff include 4.6 full-time equivalent dedicated information officers who are available to answer phone calls related to occupational health and safety or industrial relations.

For the 2011-12 financial year, the help centre answered 75,242 calls (29,678 IR and 44,565 occupational health and safety), of which 66.61 per cent were answered within three minutes of being queued. For the period 1 July to 31 July 2012, the help centre answered 4,283 calls (1,161 IR and 3,122 occupational health and safety), of which 85.66 per cent were answered within three minutes of being queued.

All occupational health and safety complaints and notifications are directed through the SafeWork SA Help Centre. Where appropriate, complaints are dealt with by contacting parties by phone or email, issuing instructions and requesting proof of compliance. For the 2011-12 financial year, the help centre recorded 2,756 occupational health and safety activities. This figure is made up of 1,326 notifiable dangerous occurrences, 290 notifiable work injuries, 1,165 complaints, and 145 bullying allegations.

Of this number, during the same financial year the help and early intervention centre managed 1,183 activities, being 734 notifiable dangerous occurrences, 103 notifiable work injuries, 331 complaints and 15 bullying allegations. For the period 1 July to 31 July 2012, the help centre recorded 246 occupational health and safety activities. This figure is made up of 92 notifiable dangerous occurrences, 30 notifiable work injuries, 112 complaints, and 12 bullying allegations.

Of this number, during the same period the help and early intervention centre managed 96 activities, being 44 notifiable dangerous occurrences, 11 notifiable work injuries, and 41 complaints. The early intervention process provided by the help centre allows for increased prevention and intervention activities undertaken by inspectors. Statistics for safety related activities for the period of 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012 include 30,580 occupational health, safety and welfare workplace intervention activities; 5,696 investigations finalised; 2,295 improvement notices issued; and 857 prohibition notices.

The SA private sector has been covered by the national industrial relations system since 1 January 2010. All industrial relations claims regarding sole traders, partnerships, other unincorporated entities and non-trading corporations now commence with the office of the Fair Work Ombudsman.

Regarding industrial relations inspectorate activities, for the period 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012, statistics recorded under state industrial relations are: 220 worksite visits were recorded; 254 investigations were finalised; 63 per cent of investigations were finalised within 90 days of commencement; and $479,203 in underpayment of wages etc. was recovered.

There are various occ health and safety and IR inspectorate activities undertaken by SafeWork SA to achieve these performance targets and to help make South Australian workplaces safer and fairer. These activities include workplace interventions, investigations and responses to a variety of requests for information and assistance from employers and employees.

The SafeWork SA Industry Intervention Program targets high-risk industry sectors and employers with poor occ health and safety performance. Specific risk reduction strategies will address high-risk plant and work practices. The program is aligned to the national occ health and safety strategy injury reduction targets and South Australia's Strategic Plan. It is also aimed at reducing WorkCover's unfunded liability. This program will continue to target workplace and public safety issues, particularly high-risk plant, dangerous goods and major hazard facilities.

The priority industries are manufacturing, construction, transport and storage, community services, wholesale and retail, and agriculture. Injuries targeted include body stressing, falls, slips and trips, being hit by moving objects and hitting objects with a part of the body. SafeWork SA compliance programs incorporate national strategies that may involve other states and territories. The programs are often state-based and address local issues but also reflect nationally aligned priority industries or hazards.

The question basically, I imagine, was going to whether we are budgeting enough to fulfil our obligations under the act. South Australia is on target to achieve a 40 per cent reduction in injuries. We are leading all states with that target, so my answer is that we are doing very well in the budgets that we do have. In regard to whether they have a tertiary education or industry-specific skills, they go through a very comprehensive interview and process before they are employed, and that would all be taken into consideration then.

Whether it is up to me to individually highlight whether someone has a tertiary degree or whatever, I do not know whether that is really my right, but they do go through a very complex and thorough interview and process before they are hired. As a result, the sort of skills and qualifications they do have have helped us and been a major reason why we have achieved such significant reductions in workplace injury.

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

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