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Issue No. 140 | 14 June 2002 |
Abbott's Rule of Law
Interview: Party Girl Unions: Touch One, Touch All Industrial: Condition Critical International: Innocence Lost History: Strange Bedfellows Organising: Just Say No Review: Choosing Life Beneath The Clouds Poetry: Did We Make a Big Mistake
Building Workers Gagged By Commission Combet Drives Car Industry Summit Green Ban Protects Aussie Timber Jobs Della Picks Up Manslaughter Baton Billions Of Reasons For Reasonable Hours Swans in Dark as Lights Go Out Workplace Wishes Walked All Over Campaign Steps Up To Stop Child Labor
The Soapbox The Dressing Room The Locker Room Week in Review Bosswatch
Due Credit Tom's Foolery More Latham More Tom
Labor Council of NSW |
News Della Picks Up Manslaughter Baton
"I am concerned to ensure we have the best system to deal with criminal culpability in industrial manslaughter," Della Bosca says. He has suggested working with Labor Council on terms of reference that will bring workable recommendations from the Workplace Compensation and Occupational Health and Safety Council. The issue was sparked by union disquiet over the lack of WorkCover action on criminal sanctions available in the state's Occupational Health and Safety Act. That statute provides for imprisonment and first offence fines of up to $550,000 for employers judged criminally liable for the deaths of employees but the provisions are rarely, if ever, used. Last week CFMEU members offered prayers for killed workmates outside the Cole Royal Commission after it had stated its intention to brush workplace deaths out of widely-reported public hearings. The mother and father of the 17-year-old killed on Broadway travelled from Tamworth to force a brief about-face from the commissioner. Next week Maori and Polynesian workers will hold a church service for a young Maori killed on a building site just around the corner from where Cole is sitting. They are expected to march to the Family Court and issue another challenge to respect the issue, via a traditional haka. Labor Council will refer Della Bosca's proposal to a meeting of affiliates considering the criminal liability of employers for OHS breaches. Secretary John Robertson hailed the initiative as a step in the right direction. "It's a way in which the issue can be addressed," Robertson says. "We have a concern but it is not about the capacity to have culpable employers charged, rather the willingness of WorkCover to take the appropriate action. "This is a good first step towards dealing with the problem."
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