Government shamed into action over workers' deaths

Widespread outrage over the death of 16-year-old Joel Exner on 
a building site last month has focused national attention on 
workplace deaths and safety. The NSW Government in particular has 
been shamed into action, announcing a state-wide crackdown on 
unsafe building sites.

NSW Minister for Commerce, John Della Bosca, has announced a 
WorkCover safety blitz on the State's construction industry.

"Our inspectors have commenced a compliance crackdown on work 
being carried out above two storeys", Mr Della Bosca said.

"WorkCover will concentrate on known high-risk construction 
sectors, including commercial developments, industrial warehouse 
constructions and 2-5 storey unit developments."

Mr Della Bosca says specific attention will be paid to 
occupational groups known to be at risk, based on workers 
compensation data, including inexperienced and younger workers, 
and those from non-English speaking backgrounds.

Mr Della Bosca then went on to say, "Under our world-leading 
occupational health and safety laws, NSW employers are required 
by law to consult their workers about health and safety issues — 
and they're required to take action".

These grand words however fall far short of the reality, and will 
not satisfy demands for new "workplace homicide" laws in the 
state.

Last year in NSW 68 workers lost their lives on the job, compared 
with just 45 for 2001.

In the same week as Joel Exner's death, two other workers were 
also killed in Sydney: a woman died when a metal gate fell on 
her, and another woman died when hit by a truck at her work 
depot.

This week also saw NSW WorkCover finally launch a prosecution 
over the death of a construction worker on a building site in 
Tweed Heads in 1998.

Rodney Taula of Brisbane was killed instantly on his first day on 
the job, and Wayne Master died later in hospital after a giant 
crane collapsed on the Twin Towns Services Club construction 
site.

One of the safety measures that would have prevented the accident 
— a computerised "black box" that calculates safe lifting limits 
and sounds an alarm when they are breached — had not been 
installed on the crane. This is despite someone from the crane 
hire company Lindores certifying the box was in place and 
functioning correctly.

The other defendant in the case is Leighton Contractors. Together 
the companies face a maximum $550,000 fine if found guilty.

After an Inquest in 2000 Coroner Derrick Hand recommended 
criminal charges be laid, as yet not action has been taken on 
this recommendation.