TLC claims about health/safety standards wrong

4/3/93

Labour Relations Minister Graham Kierath today strongly rejected claims by the Trades and Labour Council that the Government had downgraded health and safety standards for workers.

Mr Kierath said he had moved swiftly to reverse several pre-election moves by the former government because they had been taken without the consensus support of the tripartite Occupational Health, Safety and Welfare Commission.

"What the Lawrence Government tried to do at the eleventh hour was scandalous and immoral, and I had no hesitation in invalidating those actions," Mr Kierath said.

Mr Kierath said he had revoked new regulations for manual handling and noise levels and halted the transfer of ministerial responsibility for occupational health laws under the Mines Regulation Act away from the Mines Minister.

"None had the consensus support of the Occupational Health, Safety and Welfare Commission and should never have been introduced," Mr Kierath said.

"The Lawrence Government simply tried to gain a political advantage rather than advance genuine occupational health and safety interests in our workplaces.

"Unless new laws for occupational health and safety have the support of both employers and employees, they are unlikely to be accepted and implemented at the workplace level."

Mr Kierath said it was ironic that while the former government had stressed the importance of industry partners participating in the development of occupational health and safety laws through the OHSWC, in its final days the government ignored those processes.

"It would have been wrong - probably unlawful - for me to have allowed continuance of these regulations," he said.

"They were introduced in haste without proper information campaigns leading up to their implementation and would have caused confusion at the workplace level."

Mr Kierath said the OHSWC was conducting a total review of regulations.  This had been announced in June 1992 and public submissions had been received and were being considered by the Commission.

"I consider it is far more appropriate for issues such as noise control and manual handling to be discussed by the Commission in the context of its overall review, rather than have regulations introduced in an ad hoc manner for political gain."

Mr Kierath said the former government had been pressured by mining unions to transfer the administration of the Mines Regulation Act from the former Minister for Mines to the former Minister for Productivity and Labour Relations.

Again, without employers also accepting such a change, it was doomed to failure in terms of improving occupational health and safety in mining.

"The Coalition Government is committed to maintaining and improving Western Australia's occupational health and safety standards which are already amongst the highest in the world," Mr Kierath said.

"But our program for improvement will not be prejudiced by trying to manipulate some sort of political advantage."

Media contact: Barry Thornton 481 2133 : 222 9595