Page 3061 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 22 August 2017
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Before proceeding further, I would like to acknowledge that two people have died from work injuries in the ACT since the 2016 safety statement was issued. I offer the government’s condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of those two people who tragically lost their lives at work. I also acknowledge those individuals and their families who have been affected by serious workplace injuries and I renew our commitment to do all that we can to reduce the health, social and economic consequences of work injury. There is no question that every worker has the right to work in a safe and healthy workplace. Every family should expect to see their loved ones come home from work safe and sound at the end of every day and every shift.
The past 12 months have seen mixed reports on the state of work health and safety in the territory. A national comparison report released recently by Safe Work Australia shows that the rate of serious injury and disease in ACT workplaces has fallen each year since 2010-11. Although this downward trend is positive, the injury and illness rates are still unacceptably high, especially in the construction and health and community services sectors. While we still have more work to do in reducing serious workplace injuries, a recent independent actuarial review of the 2015-16 workers compensation data reveals that lost time injury frequency rates in the ACT reached a historic low of 0.26 for every million dollars in wages earned. This represents a reduction of almost 19 per cent in the serious injury frequency rate over a three-year period.
The report also showed that for the third year in a row the healthcare and social assistance industry experienced the highest rate of lost time injuries, followed by the construction industry. These two high-risk industries together account for more than 40 per cent of all lost time injuries, despite the fact that they employ only around 20 per cent of the private sector workforce. In both industries the most common causes of work injury were manual handling, slips and falls, which accounted for more than half of all injuries. Identifying ways to reduce the serious injury rate in the healthcare and social assistance industry is a priority for the ACT Work Safety Council. Its recommendations will inform our approach.
WorkSafe ACT, in collaboration with representatives of employers, employees and training organisations, recently developed a series of safety videos that have been distributed on social media and can be used during training, toolbox talks and onsite briefings to address some of the most common and concerning safety issues in the construction industry. In addition, it has undertaken targeted audits in areas of high concern. In the construction sector, these have included two crane safety audits and a scaffolding audit. The safety of apprentices in the construction industry is also a matter of ongoing concern, and I would emphasise the responsibility of all employers to ensure that apprentices are both well trained in workplace safety and appropriately supervised at all times.
WorkSafe inspectors have also undertaken a series of structured visits to our local shopping malls, where retailers and food outlets employ a high proportion of young people and people in insecure work who may not be as aware of their rights and obligations as older, full-time workers. These visits focused on raising awareness of
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