❓ Hon. Kate Doust questions the Minister for Commerce about an increase in WA's workplace fatality rate reported by Safe Work Australia. The Minister refutes the claim, citing long-term improvements and jurisdictional limitations of the report's data.
AnsweredQoN 1156Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
WORKPLACE FATALITIES — SAFE WORK AUSTRALIA
REPORT
1156. Hon KATE DOUST to the Minister for
Commerce:
According to the Safe Work Australia
report, ''Work-related Traumatic Injury Fatalities Australia 2015'',
released on Monday, 17 October 2016, Western Australia is the only state that
had an increase in the workplace fatality rate per 100 000 workers. What
measures will the state government implement to reverse this trend?
REPORT
1156. Hon KATE DOUST to the Minister for
Commerce:
According to the Safe Work Australia
report, ''Work-related Traumatic Injury Fatalities Australia 2015'',
released on Monday, 17 October 2016, Western Australia is the only state that
had an increase in the workplace fatality rate per 100 000 workers. What
measures will the state government implement to reverse this trend?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the honourable member for
the question. The information that the honourable member is relying on requires
some qualification. In fact, there has been in Western Australia a 46 per cent
reduction in the incidence of work-related traumatic injury fatalities, from
22.4 fatalities per one million workers in 2000–01 to 12 fatalities in
2013–14. The five-year average fatality incidence rate shows a clear
downward trend from 21.3 fatalities between 2000–01 and 2004–05,
to 13 fatalities between 2009–10 when we took office and 2013–14,
a 39 per cent reduction.
The statistics in the Safe Work
Australia report also include motor vehicle incidents, which may, of course,
involve traffic crashes and the like that would ordinarily be dealt with by the
police rather than WorkSafe Western Australia. There has been a 68 per cent
reduction in work fatalities since 1988–89. As I have pointed out in
the past, each year has volatile figures. We cannot judge the progress of
workplace safety by the figures in any one particular year. Also, the figures
from Safe Work Australia would include fatalities that fall outside the
jurisdiction of WorkSafe, such as those that fall within the jurisdiction of
the Australian Transport and Safety Bureau, which is not part of WorkSafe's
responsibility, and the Marine Safety Authority. It also includes fatalities
that would fall within the jurisdiction of the Department of Mines and
Petroleum of Western Australia.
I can give a more comprehensive
answer in due course. However, I should warn the honourable member that it is
very, very dangerous to rely simply on that report as an indicator of workplace
safety in Western Australia. Some of the incidents that are concerned are ones
that involve personal misjudgement and incidents that no amount of work on the
part of the Western Australian government could make any difference to. For
example, one of the incidents involved a pilot and a station manager who died
when their helicopter crashed. These are things that the Western Australian
government can have no sensible input to.
Our workplace health and safety laws
are among the best in Australia. Considerable consideration and thought has
been put into whether those laws will be amended, and considerable consultation
has taken place in that regard. However, our record in Western Australia is
among the best in the country. I am very loath to interfere with systems and
make them too bureaucratic and ones that industry will not abide by, simply for
the sake of changing to a harmonised national scheme. Otherwise, it must be
borne in mind that all those involved in workplaces—employers and
employees, as well as the government—have a role to play in workplace
safety.
the question. The information that the honourable member is relying on requires
some qualification. In fact, there has been in Western Australia a 46 per cent
reduction in the incidence of work-related traumatic injury fatalities, from
22.4 fatalities per one million workers in 2000–01 to 12 fatalities in
2013–14. The five-year average fatality incidence rate shows a clear
downward trend from 21.3 fatalities between 2000–01 and 2004–05,
to 13 fatalities between 2009–10 when we took office and 2013–14,
a 39 per cent reduction.
The statistics in the Safe Work
Australia report also include motor vehicle incidents, which may, of course,
involve traffic crashes and the like that would ordinarily be dealt with by the
police rather than WorkSafe Western Australia. There has been a 68 per cent
reduction in work fatalities since 1988–89. As I have pointed out in
the past, each year has volatile figures. We cannot judge the progress of
workplace safety by the figures in any one particular year. Also, the figures
from Safe Work Australia would include fatalities that fall outside the
jurisdiction of WorkSafe, such as those that fall within the jurisdiction of
the Australian Transport and Safety Bureau, which is not part of WorkSafe's
responsibility, and the Marine Safety Authority. It also includes fatalities
that would fall within the jurisdiction of the Department of Mines and
Petroleum of Western Australia.
I can give a more comprehensive
answer in due course. However, I should warn the honourable member that it is
very, very dangerous to rely simply on that report as an indicator of workplace
safety in Western Australia. Some of the incidents that are concerned are ones
that involve personal misjudgement and incidents that no amount of work on the
part of the Western Australian government could make any difference to. For
example, one of the incidents involved a pilot and a station manager who died
when their helicopter crashed. These are things that the Western Australian
government can have no sensible input to.
Our workplace health and safety laws
are among the best in Australia. Considerable consideration and thought has
been put into whether those laws will be amended, and considerable consultation
has taken place in that regard. However, our record in Western Australia is
among the best in the country. I am very loath to interfere with systems and
make them too bureaucratic and ones that industry will not abide by, simply for
the sake of changing to a harmonised national scheme. Otherwise, it must be
borne in mind that all those involved in workplaces—employers and
employees, as well as the government—have a role to play in workplace
safety.
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