Page 3063 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 22 August 2017
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
In the following years, lost time injuries in the territory’s construction industry reduced from 521 in 2011-12 to 363 in 2015-16. Government and industry focused heavily on improving construction industry safety during this period. Major interventions included establishing the Industrial Magistrates Court; the delivery of active certification and revised comparative tender assessment processes, aimed at ensuring that only the safest construction companies are awarded government construction projects; hiring additional work safety inspectors and bringing together the construction services branch, WorkSafe ACT, and the office of the Work Safety Commissioner within the new Access Canberra to facilitate a coordinated compliance approach; increasing inspectorate powers to conduct investigations; and introducing new on-the-spot fines to emphasise the importance of safety on construction sites.
In conducting the recommended review of Getting Home Safely implementation and outcomes the government was determined to dig deeper and gain an understanding of the state of the safety culture in the construction industry. In January 2017 the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University was selected via a competitive tender process to investigate and report on the state of the ACT construction safety culture. The RMIT investigation included four industry focus groups, 13 worksite visits and an online industry survey that yielded over 400 responses. The people RMIT consulted work in a broad range of professions within the commercial, industrial, residential and civil engineering sectors of the construction industry.
I will shortly be releasing the RMIT report but can advise the Assembly that one of its key findings is that there has been an increase in awareness of and support for worker safety. However, industry culture in relation to the protection of worker health is perceived not to have kept pace with the improvement in safety. In particular, work-family balance and mental health were identified as significant problems for construction workers and that there were significant differences in safety climate perceptions between participants in different positions. Upper level managers were the most positive, and lower level managers were more positive than frontline workers. RMIT has suggested this pointed to a disconnect in the perceived emphasis placed on work safety in construction organisations.
I have referred the report to the construction safety subcommittee of the ACT Work Safety Council and have tasked it with developing and recommending a new strategic plan to improve safety and health. Along with the RMIT report, I have also referred the directorate’s review of the Getting Home Safely recommendations and their implementation. Of the 28 recommendations, 26 have been implemented. Those that have not been implemented called on the major industry associations to lead the development of frameworks for the management of safety on ACT construction sites, recognising the practical needs of varying sized businesses and the differing sectors. However, these organisations have argued that they are not the appropriate bodies to develop such frameworks.
Overall, it is clear that significant effort was made in 2013-14 to raise awareness of construction industry safety and improve performance, and a number of important steps were taken. Continuing to reduce injury rates in the construction sector will
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video