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  Issue No 40 Official Organ of LaborNet 19 November 1999  

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News

Tragic Death Leads to Lift in Contractor Safety Standards

By Mary Yaager - Labor Council safety watchdog

An outcry over the death of a young worker in mid-1997 has led to tougher requirements for contractors working on Road and Traffic Construction projects.

When Mark Poi fell 50 meters to his death, his employer, a contractor did not have even the basic systems in place and unions believe Mark would be alive today if more attention was paid to safety on the site.

The RTA however, still continued to give work to these contractors without making sure that they had adequate safety procedures in place and therefore this led to more deaths and serious injuries.

The unions said to the Government enough is enough and demanded action which resulted in the Inquiry.

The Inquiry made 43 recommendations and the majority of these were made by the unions. The RTA has agreed to implement all of these recommendations and this week launched their Contractor safety pack.

Contractors will now be required to meet the health and safety standards outlined by the RTA in the Contractors Health & Safety Pack.

Mary Yaager Labor Councils Watchdog who was on a member of the Ministerial Inquiry welcomes this move by the RTA in tightening up OHS assessments at the prequalification and tender stages however says there is still a long way to go.

Yaags says that she can promise that the construction industry unions will give all the support they can to the implementation of contractor pack. After all we would not have it if it was not for the unions.


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*   View entire issue - print all of the articles!

*   Issue 40 contents

In this issue
Features
*  Interview: No Quick Fix
Online pioneer Marc Belanger explains why the Internet, on its own, will not save the union movement.
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*  Unions: Organising With A Mission
Entries are beginning to trickle in for the Labor Council Organiser of the Year. With just two weeks to deadline, we look at the TWU's nominee.
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*  History: Rhyme and Reason
Poems written by workers provide us with an insight into their experiences and also how they felt about their work and working conditions.
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*  Health: The Food Police
Three times a day you take your life in your hands. How? When you sit down to eat a meal.
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*  Politics: East Timor: Defeat or Victory for the Left?
John Passant's "Requiem for the Left" advances some rather extravagant charges regarding the left and East Timor.
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*  International: Kiwi Unions Rebuild from Ground Up
After fifteen years as a right wing laboratory New Zealand is about to change tack. New NZCTU chief Paul Goulter outlines the challenge ahead.
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*  Satire: Australian Democrats Revealed as Student Hoax
The Chaser has obtained an exclusive background report on the extraordinary story which reveals how and why Cheryl Kernot defected from the Democrats.
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*  Review: The Best of the Best
Once again Channel Nine has out done itself with it�s new Ray Martin program �Simply the Best�.
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*  Labour Review: What's New at the Information Centre
View the latest issue of Labour review, our resource for officials and students.
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*  Deface a Face: 25,000 Teachers Can�t Be Wrong!
Angry teachers yesterday voted overwhelmingly for Education minister John Aquilina to take the mantle of this week�s face to deface.
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News
»  Contracts Fear as Teachers Sidelined
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»  Reith Calls on States to Split Entitlement Costs
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»  Burrow's Plea: Net-Heads Must Take Leadership Role
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»  Ozemail Downloading Leave Entitlements
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»  Geeks Claim 400 Per Cent for Millennium Bug Patrol
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»  Hospital Crisis Looms as Nurses Set Deadline
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»  Pre-Fab Shelter Wins UN Support in East Timor
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»  Rail Authorities Back Down on Surveillance.
*
»  Rio Tinto Black List Exposed at Blair Athol
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»  Needle Stick Fears Spark Industrial Action
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»  Round One to the Cleaners
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»  Telstra's Greed Puts Service at Risk
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»  Tragic Death Leads to Lift in Contractor Safety Standards
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»  Oldfield in the Pub
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Columns
»  Guest Report
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»  Sport
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»  Trades Hall
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»  Piers Watch
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Letters to the editor
»  Letter of the Week
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»  Republican Post Mortem
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»  Aquilina's Horror Award
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»  CCT - Destroying Rural Communities
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»  Timor Pride Not Cause for Requiem
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