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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 3 Hansard (13 March) . . Page.. 1094 ..
According to WorkCover's own figures, 45% of Improvement Notices issued and 82% of Prohibition Notices issued by WorkCover inspectors were for the construction industry.
(a) Is the focus on this industry adequate and appropriately resourced?
(5) Codes of Practice (Page 10):
The fourth dot point on page 10 talks about the 'modernising' of the Codes of Practice. Codes of Practice are generally guides that can be used as a framework for the development of company procedures. It appears that WorkCover want to turn them into "Black Letter Law"so that a breach of a Code or failure to fully follow it is a breach of the Act.
(a) Is this approach consistent with what is happening in other jurisdictions and will it really lead to improved OH&S by making processes more prescriptive?
(6) AIMS Database (Page 10):
The eighth dot point on page 10 talks about the AIMS database. Given that this project has been going for some 4 years now, apart from the graphs in the Construction Industry Task Force Report and some in the Annual Report, it appears that WorkCover are keeping all the information to themselves and not releasing it for others to analyse.
(a) Is this proposed to change and allow access to the database for analysis purposes to other bodies and individuals?
(7) Administrative Expenses (Page 64):
(a) Is it to be assumed that the significant increase in legal expenses is directly related to the HIH claims;
(b) Given that the costs are associated with claims outcomes, is this good value for money; or
(c) Is this amount directly related to the significant commitment in resources to fireworks that is deflecting WorkCover's focus away from OH&S in the workplace.
(8) Nominal Insurer Levies (Page 83):
Nominal Insurer Levies came down to $75,000 in 2001-02, yet administration costs amounted to approx $130,000 or 46% of total expenditure. This ratio appears very high compared to insurance industry average administrative figures of 12 - 15%, particularly when there are only 39 Nominal Insurer claims being managed.
(a) Can the Minister explain why these figures are so high in relation to the insurance industry average?
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