One dead, four hurt in Hunter Valley railway disaster

A HORRIFIC rail accident in which one man was killed and four others
seriously injured may have been the result of human error.

The Contruction, Forestry, Mining and Electricity Union said today that
the accident in the Hunter Valley late on Tuesday night was likely a result
of a ground crew error. Crews contracted to the Abigroup construction
company were working on a section of rail line at Telarah about 11pm
when a 30-tonne piece of prefabricated track dropped from an on-site
crane, crushing the men below.

Ralph Grigull, whose house backs onto the line, said he was lying in bed
when he heard a crashing sound outside. “It sounded like a truck dumping
its load and then keeling over – you could tell it was an unusual sort of
sound,” he said. “I went outside and one of the lads told me a load had
slipped and that there was a bloke bleeding profusely.” One man died at
the scene, while another two were airlifted to the John Hunter Hospital
with critical arm and leg injuries.

Two others with less serious injuries were taken by road to Maitland
Hospital. It is understood that one of the critically injured men was
undergoing emergency surgery this morning. Police and WorkCover
investigators returned to the scene this morning to examine the dropped
load and the crane.

CFMEUsenior organiser Peter Harris said this morning that from his
conversations with management at the scene, “it would seem there has been
some sort of human error”. “From what I can gather, the employees may
have been trying to remove components from the load while it was under
the control of the crane crew,” he said. Mr Harris explained that a
300-tonne crane like the one used at the site by subcontractor Boom
Logistics would have an operator and a man on the ground controlling the
load. Under

WorkCover guidelines, crane crew members are responsible for the load
and no other workers should be involved until the it is on the ground, Mr
Harris said. If the employees were trying to do something with that load
it’s something that is going to have to be very closely examined,” he said.

Crews who were on the scene at the time have been offered counselling
today. Work on the line, which is used by coal trains and the intercity
passenger service connecting Newcastle with the state’s north-west, began
late last year. It is managed by the Australian Rail Track Corporation,
which has contracted the job to Abigroup.

Ref: The Daily Telegraph., 25th March 2009

Australia Post denies staff rip-offs

AAP
By Colin Brinsden
March 16, 2009

AUSTRALIA Post denies its executives are being paid bonuses for reducing
worker compensation costs.

Claims that doctors are being pressured to dismiss injury claims are a
"slur" on the medical profession, the employer said.

The Communications Electrical and Plumbing Union (CEPU) has
accused Australia Post of rejecting claims from injured workers and unfairly
preventing them from getting compensation. CEPU NSW secretary Jim
Metcher says Australia Post pressured doctors into writing medical
reports dismissive of injury claims, while executives are getting bonuses
for cutting compensation costs. Australia Post said it ensures all staff injured
at work have access to appropriate independent medical practitioners.

"The independent practitioners understand the business and endeavour to
return the employee to work as soon as possible which is the worldwide
basic rehabilitation principle," Australia Post said."Many of these doctors
are the employee's own doctors.

"To suggest these medical practitioners used by Australia Post are anything
but professional is a slur on the medical profession itself." The CEPU believes
lucrative bonuses at Australia Post have led to a culture in which managers
deny injured workers their entitlements. "There are literally hundreds of
people that are caught up in this," Jim Metcher said today."It needs to stop
now." The Government needed to crack down on companies rewarding
executives who slash injury management costs, he said."Rewards and pay
bonuses for executives who rort workers of their entitlements and personal
safety is simply not on," Mr Metcher said.

But Australia Post denies these claims. "Australia Post executives are
not paid bonuses for reducing their compensation costs and do not accept
or deny compensation claims made by staff," it said. "It is important to
remember Australia Post is regularly audited by two external organisations,
including Comcare."

It said employees could also choose to have their matter heard before the
Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

One long-serving Australia Post employee Gail Seaton said she
was diagnosed with a painful repetitive strain injury - epicondylitis -
by her GP, but a company-appointed specialist subsequently
denied the condition was still active.

She said Australia Post used the specialist's evidence to deny her
compensation claim and then forced her out of her job because she
could not perform her duties. As a result, she was forced to use
all her sick and long service leave entitlements. "It has caused me
and my family a lot of hardship, a lot of stress, and it has been
very sad," Ms Seaton said."I wish Australia Post would reconsider
and send me back to work, take me back to work, because I want
to go back to work."

WCVs: Yeah Right! "Independent Practitioners" my arse!

All of the service providers used for workcover claims are registered and
employed by worksafe, so the use of the word "independent" in this story
is fictitious and even suggesting that this puts a slur on the medical profession
is a joke. The service providers used by worksafe are not squeaky clean nor
do they care about the patients they are seeing because for them, its all
about the money, you only have to see how they treat injured workers
during their consultations to know that!

All service providers have a stake in doing as requested by either the
insurers or worksafe because at the end of the day its worksafe
who pays the bills!!!!!

I have no problems believing the injured workers concerned in this story
as we hear this from injured workers all the time!

Executive bonuses paid from compo savings

The union covering Australia Post employees says injured workers are
being forced back to work early. (ABC News: Gary Rivett)

A union has claimed that injured Australia Post employees are being forced
back to work early, and that savings in compensation payments are being
used to fund bonuses for senior executives.

The Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union is meeting Federal
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy in Canberra this morning to
discuss its concerns about workers' compensation.

Its New South Wales state secretary, Jim Metcher, says the situation is
jeopardising workers' safety."Those actions are resulting in workers right
across Australia who are sick and injured in the workplace having their
workers compensation entitlements removed, and now even resulting
in workers being dismissed from their employment," he said.

Australia Post says independent compensation delegates are the only
people who can accept or deny compensation claims.

Ref: ABC News

Cash for Compo, exposing a sick system

Thursday 18 December 2008

The CEPU has today launched the 'Cash for Compo' campaign to it's Union
membership. A public launch will follow shortly.www.CashforCompo.org.au

Australia Post's drive to cut workers compensation costs is resulting in serious
mistreatment of sick and injured workers.Injured workers are losing out as Post:
· sacks them
· forces them back to work early to reduce 'lost-time injury' records
· 'doctor shops' for medical opinion that suits them
· refuses compensation on spurious grounds
· directs them on to unpaid sick leave against their treating doctor's advice.

Meanwhile, Post managers are pocketing cash bonuses for cutting compo costs!
That's just not right!Through the Cash for Compo campaign, the CEPU exposes
Australia Post's unfair and dangerous practices when dealing with injured workers
and calls on the Federal Government to intervene.

Australia Post is mistreating sick and injured workers to reduce its workers
compensation costs.

Australia Post boasts that Lost Time Injury records are the lowest they've
ever been although those results haven't been achieved by a safer workplace –
rather by manipulating the injury management process to force people back to
work and deny injured workers their rights.

The CEPU represents Australia Post workers and has gathered significant
evidence and documented extensive abuse of the injury management process.

Facility Nominated Doctors.
Workers are being bullied into attending company-paid Facility Nominated
Doctors. FNDs are instructed to avoid workers compensation and have injured
workers fit for work work, before they've had to time to recover.Australia Post
has a commercial contract with InjuryNET, a private organisation, which gives
Post access to a network of doctors.

InjuryNET guarantees it will reduce Lost Time Injury rates, lost hours and
duration until return to pre-injury duties.

Where workers are not eligible for workers compensation, the same company
doctors are instructed to find them unfit for duties, so Australia Post can direct
them off work without pay, and eventually sack them.

The CEPU has obtained email evidence that managers use the injury
management process to get rid of ‘undesireable' employees. This is the language
Australia Post management use to describe injured workers.

These are the very same managers who are rewarding themselves with cash
bonuses for reducing Lost Time Injuries in Australia Post at the expense of
injured workers rights.

Sydney club to honour Painting Fall Victim.

Mar 11 2009

A Sydney club will honour the life of long-time supporter Tom Hynes, who
plunged to his death while painting the club's exterior.

The 70-year-old was painting the Maroubra Seals Sports and Community
Club on Tuesday when the gantry he was standing on collapsed.

He fell 40 metres to his death. A colleague was left dangling from his harness
before being rescued. It's understood Mr Hynes was not wearing a harness.

Club president Alan Langford said Mr Hynes was an old friend who would
be missed by all who knew him.
"He's part of the Seals family - he's been around for 30 years," Mr Langford
told AAP."He was a great storyteller and a great bloke."

Mr Langford said the club would meet on Wednesday night to plan an event
in his memory.He said he and other members of the club's management had
attended a counselling session."All the emotions you can think of - frustration,
anger with different things that happened and shock (came out at the session),"
he said.

A WorkCover spokeswoman said an investigation into the incident was ongoing.

Mr Hynes did all of the club's painting, and had also painted the homes of club
members over the years.

He left behind two daughters, a number of grandchildren, a partner and a
former wife.

Ref: Ninemsn

Four years on and no one has been punished for Nathan Parks death ?

"Hasn't this Family Suffered Enough!"

Worker crushed to death

Posted Wed Jan 14, 2009
10:24am AEDT
Updated Wed Jan 14, 2009 11:14am AEDT

A man has been crushed to death at a metal recycling factory in Brooklyn,
in Melbourne's west.

Police say a bailing unit fell on the man at Sims Metal at 8:30am (AEDT).

Worksafe spokesman, Paul Fallon, says investigators are trying to work
out what happened."Worksafe Victoria has been notified that a worker has
died at a Brooklyn factory after being crushed," he said."Our inspectors
are currently on the scene, and investigators, to attempt to establish the
cause of death."

Witnesses have told police that a 51-year-old Greystaines man was
assisting in the installation of a metal bailing machine.

One piece of the machine was in place and cranes were being used to lower
a second part of the machine onto the first.

Police believe that a guide rope has broken causing machinery to move,
crushing the man.

Paramedic, David Kervin, says the man died before ambulance officers
could help him."When we arrived, obviously the gentleman was trapped
in a position that was a little bit difficult for us to access, however, upon
accessing, the gentleman had unfortunately, already died on our arrival,"
he said.

Mr Fallon, says January is traditionally bad for workplace accidents.
"We're not sure why it is, but there are those things, whether equipment
has been properly maintained, whether in fact it is the fact that some are
letting their guards down, we don't know," he said.

"But we know from recent history that it is that time of year where they're
more likely to die than any other month."

WCV's: January being a bad month is not an excuse for these accidents
worksafe!

Scaffold Collapse Update - 3 Workers Injured.

This workplace accident

happened just 4.5 kms from

Worksafes Head Office in

Melbourne.

This is a serious problem for

worksafe considering, it

happened right under their

noses!

Three tradesmen were injured in the chaotic scene after five storeys of

scaffolding came crashing down about 9.50am.

A 24-year-old man was reportedly found hanging upside down with his legs

trapped after scaffolding collapsed on a busy road in the inner Melbourne

suburb of Prahran this morning.The 24-year-old suffered serious neck, arm

and leg injuries.His workmates were lucky to excape with minor injuries.

One 28-year-old man fell four floors but only suffered a fractured finger

along with cuts and bruises, while another 52-year-old colleague suffered

chest injuries after reportedly jumping to safety as the structure gave way.

The three tradesmen were treated at the nearby Alfred Hospital and

Prahran Market Clinic, which both located within a few hundred metres

from the construction site on trendy Commercial Road.

Myki from Hoochi Mammaz Hair Salon in nearby Cato St told ninemsn he

"felt the ground move" when the scaffolding collapsed.
"My salon shook and the first thing I thought was, 'Oh God, it's a terrorist

attack'," he said.

A group of pensioners who had scrambled into his salon in the moments after

the collapse told him it didn't appear to be terror-related."I was relieved …

but everyone's still a bit numb at the moment," he said.

Another witness said the crashing sound was like "thunder".
"We heard a 'bang, bang, bang' noise, it was ridiculous how loud it was,"

said Sophie Stirling from nearby PABS Furniture Rental."It was like thunder,

the most amazing noise I've ever heard — my boss automatically said 'it's got

to be that building' and we rushed outside."It's crushed quite a few cars and

the scaffolding was strewn halfway across the road."

The tradesmen injured in the incident were building a hotel on the site of an

old Bob Jane T-Mart site where the incident took place

Most of the workers are believed to have been at morning tea when the

scaffolding collapsed, which appears to have spared more injuries.

Five cars and a van were buried in the rubble but no people at ground level are

believed to have been injured in the accident.

By Sean Cusick and Matt Bachl, ninemsn

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/756357/three-injured-after-scaffolding-collapses

If you think Comcare is a better option, it isnt" - Surge in claims for workplace stress

By Michael Pelly - SMH
June 21, 2004.

Stressed-out workers are flooding insurers with claims and blaming low job
control, high job demands and poor support from their bosses.
Mental stress accounts for 6 per cent of all injury claims, and the costs are
considerably higher because victims take more time off work than for other
injuries and incur higher medical and legal bills.

The largest workplace insurer in Australia, Comcare, says the steady increase
in pyschological injury claims - both lodged and accepted - in recent years
comes after a sharp drop-off during the late 1990s.

A spokesman for Comcare said the upsurge in such claims since late 2002
had driven workers' compensation costs higher for its clients, all Australian
and ACT government agencies. In the 10 months to the end of April it
received 650 claims and accepted liability on 481.

Sprains and strains, such as wrist injuries from keyboards, accounted for
36 per cent of all claims, and 26 per cent of the total cost of meeting those
claims. Back injures was the next biggest category at 17 per cent of claims
and 18 per cent of costs. Psychological injuries comprised only 6 per cent
of claims but 21 per cent of costs.

As stress does not constitute a disease or injury under Commonwealth
legislation, employees must show they are suffering from a recognised
mental illness or disorder, such as depression and anxiety conditions. The
workplace has to be a contributing factor. Stress resulting from misconduct
or failure to gain promotion is not covered.

"It has to be sustained work pressure," the Comcare spokesman said.
"Everyone has a bad week or even a bad month. There has to be some
type of disorder that has developed over time - that is, unless someone
points a gun at you in a bank."

Britain's Health & Safety Executive has identified six factors that can lead
to work-related stress: demands, control, support, relationships, role and
change.It splits the hazards into two groups: content of work, and the
context of work.

With content, HSE cites the reliability of work equipment, underuse of skills,
erratic and onerous workloads, and inflexible schedules. Context involves
problems with the culture of an organisation, career development, poor
relationships with bosses, and being left out of decision making.

The Comcare spokesman said programs in the mid-1990s at high-stress
workplaces such as Centrelink had been instrumental in reducing such
claims, but government and private insurers alike had noticed claims were
again on the rise.

In addition, more claims were being lodged by people in affluent suburbs,
with managers in more troubled environments - those with a "rougher clientele"
- proving more effective in tackling the problem. He said the focus was on
rehabilitation rather than payouts. "Costs of pyschological injury claims are
considerably higher than other injuries because of longer periods of time off
work and higher medical and legal expenses than other claim payouts."

If this was how Concare treated Stress claims in 2004, I dont hold out much
hope for them to have improved. Although the legislation does include stress
claims now the attitude taken by Comcare is typical when a claim is made.
Worksafe and Comcare play Judge and Jury when a workplace injury claim is
made for a stress related issue. So either way, injured workers loose!
We dont need Comcare !!!!!!

WorkSafe targets Melbourne retailers

WorkSafe's inspectors are targeting retail and hospitality outlets in
Melbourne's central business district this month.

Retail businesses and restaurants, cafes and bars will be inspected to
check that employers are meeting their return to work obligations for
injured workers. The visits in Melbourne will run over two weeks, from
January 19 to 30. Over the past five years, a total of 12,013 workers
were injured in the City of Melbourne, with treatment and rehabilitation
costs exceeding $170 million.

The retail and hospitality industries accounted for more than 1,400 of these
injuries and nearly $22 million in treatment and rehabilitation.
Musculoskeletal injuries, also known as sprains and strains, were the most
common injuries experienced.

WorkSafe's Len Boehm said the management of return to work obligations
was often juggled among a range of business needs. "Helping injured workers
return to work in a safe and sustainable way can be a complex process,
" Boehm said. "However, while it's currently peak time for retail and
hospitality trading, an employer cannot ignore their responsibilities.

Getting on top of these obligations now should mean there are fewer problems
for the inspectors to deal with." Boehm said that with many businesses having
hired additional workers for the summer trading period, young workers were
often at risk as they are less experienced and less likely to ask questions about
returning to work and about their safety. More than 1,000 young workers
have been hurt at work in the City of Melbourne in the past five years.

Inspectors will be checking on a range of matters including the existence of:
an injury register, an occupational rehabilitation program if the employer has
an injured worker, a risk management program, and a Return to Work
Coordinator, whose role is to assist an injured worker to remain at or return
to work as soon as possible after injury. Inspectors will also be checking that
information about what to do if a worker is injured is clearly displayed in the
workplace. "The inspectors' primary role is to help business operators, but
where they are not addressing return to work issues and meeting their
obligations, they will suffer the consequences, including the potential for
prosecution," Boehm said. WorkSafe has previously conducted similar
campaigns in Ringwood, Geelong and Werribee.

Ref: Inside Retailers online: Thursday, January 08, 2009

Lindberg's rocky road at WorkCover

Photo: AWB managing director Andrew Lindberg was a controversial head of
the Victorian WorkCover Authority during the 1990s.

AWB supremo Andrew Lindberg quit as WorkCover chief when Steve Bracks

was elected Premier.In 1999 the then Labor state opposition accused Mr

Lindberg in Parliament of spending large amounts of the authority's money

on entertainment and travel.

Rob Hulls, then shadow WorkCover minister and now Attorney-General,

produced documents showing Mr Lindberg spent $34,646 on entertainment,

transport and accommodation, locally and overseas, while heading WorkCover

from 1992 until 1998.

It was also reported at the time that Mr Lindberg had spent more than

$100,000 on overseas and interstate trips over five years while with the

authority.

Mr Hulls told The Age at the time that Mr Lindberg lived "a

lifestyle that would make Australia's richest 200 people blush."

WCV's: Mr Hulls did nothing to make Lindberg held accountable for this?

Why Not? If this was an injured worker who had defrauded the system

they would be in court as quick as lightning! So what makes Lindberg

any different?

The besieged WorkCover chief resigned in November 1999, a

month after Steve Bracks was sworn in as Premier, citing an

inability to work with the new Government.

That was not surprising: as opposition leader, Mr Bracks had

gone after Mr Lindberg, calling for his head in July that year.

WCV's So what happened here, did Mr bracks get Mr Lindberg held

accountable for worksafes losses?, I dont think so? It all gets blown under

a big rug and forgotten!

Mr Bracks attacked Mr Lindberg for "arrogantly and quickly" dismissing a

key recommendation by a royal commission into the 1998 Longford gas

blast that a major hazards unit should be established separate to WorkCover.

Trade union leaders also condemned Mr Lindberg, saying WorkCover had

fallen apart while he was at the helm.

Leigh Hubbard, who was Victorian Trades Hall secretary at the time, was

among the chorus who welcomed his resignation.

Yesterday, Mr Hubbard described Mr Lindberg as a "divisive and dogmatic

" WorkCover leader who had failed to consult others. "Andrew was quite

schizophrenic in the way that he was quite personable on one hand then was

wanting to drive through an agenda without talking to anyone," he said.

"Granted, that that was under (Jeff) Kennett."

"He appears to have inherited this new problem with AWB and run with

it," Mr Hubbard said.

Mr Lindberg's 1999 resignation from WorkCover came a week

after the authority announced a budget blow-out of $176 million

for the previous year.

WCV's: Why wasnt Lindberg held partly responsible for this blow out?

Mr Lindberg joined AWB in 2000, taking with him a number of his

WorkCover colleagues, including director of public affairs Eileen McMahon.

Taken from: The Age

Written By: Mathew Murphy

January 20, 2006

MINISTER SEEKS CREDIT FOR $396M WORKCOVER BURDEN

This story has been posted solely for the purpose of showing our readers that
Ministers will claim that all is fine within worksafe.

The Minister for WorkCover, Bob Cameron, should be apologising to Victorian
employers and workers for the $396 million increased burden his bungled
handling of WorkCover has helped inflict on them, rather than seeking credit
because the situation could have been worse, the Shadow Minister for
WorkCover, Robert Clark, said today.
"When Labor came to office, unfunded WorkCover liabilities stood at $296
million. The latest estimate places unfunded liabilities at $692 million.

This is not something for which Mr Cameron is entitled to expect congratulations.

"What has happened over the last 6 months is that some of the more outrageous
claims lodged prior to Labor's amended deadline for common law claims have
been cleared out of the system for less than the original cost estimates.

"This is not surprising, because the actuaries initially valued those claims
based on historical claims patterns, without fully taking into account the fact
that law firms and unions had deluged the WorkCover system with hundreds
of dodgy claims.

"It is mainly getting rid of some of those claims that has helped achieve a
$130 million reduction in liabilities at 30 June compared with what the actuaries
expected in their December report. The other key factor contributing to the
reduction in unfunded liabilities from $1,074 million in December has been a
better than expected investment performance.

"However, despite all this there has still been a $396 million deterioration since
Labor has been in office. When they came to office WorkCover was on track to
return to the black by February 2001 with a premium rate of 1.9%. Now even
with a premium rate of 2.22% it is not expected to return to the black until more
than three years later in June 2004.

"The Auditor-General's report in June this year found that Labor's legislation
changing the deadline for lodgement of common law claims was the most
significant development contributing to the massive unfunded liability figure.

"WorkCover's actuaries confirmed in their December report that the last
minute surge of claims before the 31 August 2000 deadline was unexpected
because plaintiff law firms had indicated previously they did not have a
significant backlog of claims to be notified.

"In short, the Minister was dudded by his Labor lawyer mates and by the
unions. Once he changed the cut-off date they emptied out their bottom
drawers to lodge every dubious claim they could find.

"Labor has well and truly re-ignited the 'compo culture'.
"The Minister seems to think he deserves praise for only presiding over
$396 million of deterioration rather than $778 million. But this is $396 million
which will have to be made up in continued high premiums and is not available
to pay benefits to genuinely injured workers."

News Release - Thursday, 2nd August, 2001
www.robertclark.net.

Financial crisis wipes $600m off value of Worksafe investments

Article from: The Herald Sun
Written By: John Ferguson
September 27, 2008

VOLATILE financial markets have stripped nearly $600 million
off the value of WorkSafe Victoria's investment pool.

The huge fall has sparked alarm bells about Government investments
after the Wall St crisis. WorkSafe accounts show its investment returns
falling nearly 10 per cent in the past financial year amid fears the falls
will have intensified after June 30.

The Brumby Government and WorkCover have defended WorkSafe's
position, arguing the diversified portfolio had achieved gains of more than
6 per cent a year for the past five years.

The $600 million was a net loss on investments for 2007-08.

Finance Minister Tim Holding said the body that manages the state's
workplace safety system was still in strong shape. "Over the past 12
months investments have out-performed the Australian stockmarket
average and since 1999 they have created an extra $1.1 billion through
their carefully managed investment portfolio," Mr Holding said through
a spokesman.

WCV's: So why is Mr Holding telling us that the government cannot
afford to include the injured workrs of the Kennett Era?

Opposition finance spokesman Gordon Rich-Phillips warned that there
might be worse to come, adding forecast reforms to workers' compensation
could add an extra burden to business. "You can't be just loading up the
WorkCover scheme with additional costs," Mr Rich-Phillips said.
Despite the investment blow, the state's workplace injury insurance
scheme remains fully-funded.

WorkSafe chair Elana Rubin said the investment hit needed to be seen
in context. "During the previous four years WorkSafe, like most other
major investors, achieved investment returns far in excess of the long-term
expected return and these drove high net profit outcomes," Ms Rubin said.
Her comments came as the Government released the independent review
into Victoria's workers' compensation legislation. Performed by Peter Hanks,
QC, the review recommendations -- if backed -- would lead to sweeping
changes about the way the system works.

Victorian Worksafes Complaince Codes

If you are having problems with worksafe and their management of your
claim then check the complaince codes out to make sure they have covered
all entitlements for you and maintained their own policies whilst doing it!

Complaince Codes:
http://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/WorkSafe/Home/Forms+and+Publications/Forms+and+Publications+Results?docType=Compliance Code&plural=Compliance Codes

Here is their Codes of practice:
http://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/WorkSafe/Home/Forms+and+Publications/Forms+and+Publications+Results?docType=Code of Practice&plural=Codes of Practice

Unions concerned over WorkSafe report

Margarita Windisch, Melbourne 10th August 2008

The Victorian state government is considering far-reaching changes
to workers’ compensation laws.

Peter Hanks QC was commissioned in December 2007 to conduct
an inquiry into the 1985 Accident Compensation Act (WorkCare),
which under the former Liberal government of premier Jeff
Kennett government was transformed into WorkCover in 1992.

According to the July 18 Age, Hanks has recommended 133 changes
to be incorporated into a new scheme called “WorkSafe Victoria”.
Under the Kennett government, a raft of changes to Victoria’s Accident
Compensation Act were introduced between 1992 and 1999 that
severely reduced injured workers’ access to compensation and
massively decreased their entitlements. Thousands of long-term
injured workers were thrown off compensation altogether.

Workers also lost their right to sue under common law
negligent employers, doctors who treat work injuries and manufacturers
of faulty equipment.

New changes introduced to WorkCover by consecutive Labor
governments since 1999 have delivered minimal improvements to
injured workers, but the million dollar handouts to employers have
continued unabated.

A Victorian Trades Hall Council (VTHC) briefing paper estimates
that over the last four years employers have benefitted from a
45% cut to average WorkCover premiums, delivering savings to
bosses of close to $2 billion. Workers netted only a total of
$45 million. WorkCover recorded a net profit of $1.17 billion for
the financial year ending June 2007 and boasts on its website of an
almost $2 billion dollar reduction of long-term claim costs since
2001-02.

Geoff Lewin, a member of the Community and Public Sector Union and
participant in the stakeholder reference group (SRG) around the proposed
changes, has raised serious concern over Hanks’ draft recommendations;
the report will be delivered to the WorkCover minister in late August.
“Hanks is proposing that any worker who has been on the
maximum of 130 weeks of compensation will be thrown off the
system if there is a demonstrated five minute work capacity”,
he told Green Left Weekly.

A VTHC document claims that Hanks is planning to maintain
the 30% impairment test threshold for psychiatric injuries and
the 10% impairment threshold for most physical injuries.

Lewin told GLW that Hanks proposes to extend the preclusions
for stress injuries put in place by Kennett in 1992 through
scrapping benefits for psychological or psychiatric injury received
from any “reasonable management action”. “The changes suggested
by Hanks are worse then those under Kennett and will in effect
exclude most people suffering from stress-related [injuries]”,
Lewin said.

The VTHC opposes proposed changes to the return to work
provisions that would remove legislative obligations for employers
to provide workers with suitable employment; instead, the
obligations would be replaced by weaker regulations and guidelines.
The draft report proposes reducing the powers of the already weak
Accident Compensation Conciliation Service, which is the first port
of call if a claim is challenged.

A review panel would become the final arbiter of disputes.
Lewin believes that this would draw out the process and prolong
the process of testing in court claims that have been denied.
Lewin told GLW that having the Victorian WorkCover Authority
conducting the internal review on arbitration will be detrimental
to workers. Lewin said that Victoria’s Labor government
made a serious mistake by appointing a reviewer whose staff come
from the WorkCover Authority or the treasury and finance departments:
“The WorkCover Authority is basically running the inquiry and is
not taking into account the interests of injured workers.”
He added: “In February, Hanks asked the SRG members for issues
to be included in a discussion paper to be released.

VTHC provided 33 major issues of which Hanks only included
three minor ones in his public document.” It is still unclear if the
government will release the Hanks report publically.
It is possible the final report will go to the Autumn parliamentary
session in 2009.

The VTHC “FixWorkCover” campaign calls for an increase in
weekly payments, coverage of all stress injuries, improved disputes
resolution and better return-to-work rights, an end to discrimination
and the inclusion of outworkers in the compensations scheme.

For more information visit http://www.fixworkcover.org/.

New Worksafe ads

From: Safety at work blog:

Twenty years ago, I was at a FutureSafe conference in Sydney,
Australia, where Eileen McMahon of WorkSafe Victoria showed
a series of graphic ads.

The audience were impressed and roundly supported the use of
such ads in their own States.

At the time confronting ads were de rigueur as road safety
campaigns had been using the same technique for a while.

Ads from both government authorities won critical acclaim and
many awards.

Confronting workplace safety ads recently ran on Canadian television
to a mixed reception.

WorkSafe Victoria has clearly adapted these ads and their concepts
to the Australian circumstance in its campaign that was launched
on Australian television on 5 October 2008.


WorkSafe Young Workers Campaign

The Australian ads have emphasised the lack of information and
induction provided to young workers. Rather than having the incident
victim talk to the camera, WorkSafe emphasises the confused thought
processes of a young person in a bakery being unsure of how to operate
a machine safely, a young man experiments with a nailgun, and a young
person scalded in a commercial kitchen.

In The Sunday Age, WorkSafe CEO, John Merritt, said that the
graphic content was to gain the attention of young workers:
“It’s confronting, it’s not pleasant, but young workers have challenged
us to confront them with the reality of what happens…”
“The guts of this campaign is to say to young workers: for goodness
sake, if you’re not sure about something, speak up.”
“”It was clear from the research that nothing else would have impact.”

Media reports make no acknowledgement of the Canadian campaign
which seems a little odd given the similarities of the kitchen-based ad,
in particular.

The challenge of this type of ad is to run it for just long enough to make
an impact but not so long that viewers get “graphic fatigue” -
particularly important for appealing to young workers.

This is also a lesson that should have been learnt from the original
WorkSafe ads a couple of decades ago. The combination of both a
workplace safety campaign and road safety campaign using the same
techniques limited the effectiveness of both.

There is no doubt about the validity of the safety risks in WorkSafe’s
target market but it is vital that these ads be balanced with the more
gentle and parent-friendly “homecoming” ads and the workplace
inspector ads aimed at business operators.

All three should be broadcast over the same period in order to provide
the broadest context and the one that reflects the reality.


WorkSafe Young Workers Campaign

Clearly, the WorkSafe ad campaign is intended to maximise the
return on the advertising budget by generating media debate.

This was virtually acknowledged by John Merritt when he said
“There will undoubtedly be a conversation and a debate about
that message.” (Yep Mr Merritt plenty of debate, you are right but the debate is about the expense of this advertising campaign not its contents)

A danger with this tactic is that the ads become the story rather
than people discussing the safety of young workers. Let’s watch
who supports the ads and who criticises.

I was in Canada last year talking with safety professionals after liaising
with them the previous year over the public reaction to such ads and you
are right - they do bear more than a little similarity.

Interestingly Canadians felt they were over the top, young people turned
off as it was just like so much film work and video they watch these days,
they were no longer sensitised to it. The push subsequently became
about how to ensure all young workers were properly advised of their
rights and responsibilities and accountability's under the legislation and
how it applied to their role and specific workplace.
It’s time we started to ensure this stuff gets rolled out in high schools,
preparing people for a real workplace rather than just thinking they will
be told at some stage in the future.

WCV's: All these ad show is that the workplace safety messages already made by the VWA have not worked! These ads show that workers from all ages are not provided safe workplaces and that the younger workers feel as threatened by the loss of their job as would an older worker.

The VWA need to get real with these ads and show that employers are compliant with all workplace safety rules and regulations at all times not just when the VWA decide they had better be seen actually doing something constructive with injured workers money!

How much did this advertising campaign cost Mr holding?

How can this campaign provide returns for worksafe?

Considering you are telling injured workers that the government cannot afford to include all injured workers in the recent common law changes?

As an injured workers partner Mr Holding I would have liked to have received some of the money you have spent on this advertising? It would have helped me immensely and given me the opportunity to be able to pay a few bills or to put food onto my families table.

I'm betting your family has enough to eat and you can pay your bills Mr Holding but as a workcover victim (which is what I am now) I cannot!

Where does your family fit Mr holding? I bet it isn't at the bottom of this food chain called worksafe, is it Mr holding?

WorkSafe ads leave bosses steaming

Craig Binnie July 09, 2008 12:00am

BUILDERS have criticised a new WorkSafe advertisement they claim
portrays employers as dishonest and uncaring about workplace safety.

The television commercials, show a WorkSafe inspector approaching a
workplace, causing an employer to become anxious about unsafe practices.
When the employer asks why a machine does not have a guard on it,
a worker tells his boss that he told them to leave it off.

The Master Builders Association of Victoria's executive director, Brian
Welch, said Victorian employers met the best workplace safety
regulations in the country and did not deserve to be portrayed as being
willing to endanger their own staff.

"It is very concerning that WorkSafe's new commercials are implying
that employers only care about safety when WorkSafe inspectors
show up," Mr Welch said.

WorkSafe spokesman Michael Birt said the number of workplace accident
claims was increasing, especially in the construction industry.

"In the ad they didn't have a guard on the machine, which is one of the
major things that we find. They tend to rip people's arms off or cut them off."

Complaints Information and action

If you have written to your local and state ministers and you havent received
an appropriate response or If your representatives ignore, or fails to respond
as requested then you send a My Will letter to the Governor(state) or Governor
General(federal) depending on whether you are dealing with your State or
Federal members.

In it you ask him/her to take action by informing the government member who
ignored you or failed to respond as requested to abide by his oath of office and
duties according to the constitution and as reaffirmed by the High Court.

Do not forget to also tell him you want to be kept promptly informed of his
actions to your letter.

If none of these representatives respond according to your Will, then under
the Magna Carta you can then partition the Queen with your documents.

All injured workers need to make complaints about the discrimination and
negligence they have suffered at the hands of worksafe and their providers.

We need to inform the government that we will not tolerate any of the Hanks
report being initialised without the full suport of the Injured Workers of Victoria
in who this government owes a duty of care too.

Not sure who to write to?

This will depend on whether it is a state or federal issue.
The following are some suggestions about appropriate people to address the issue:

Federal Issue
House of Representatives
Your local representative
The Prime Minister
The leaders of the opposition parties
The minister responsible for the area of concern
Shadow ministers responsible for the area of concern
Any independents
Senate All of the Senators that represent your State.

State Issue
Your local representatives
The Premier
The leaders of the opposition parties
The minister responsible for the area of concern
Shadow ministers responsible for the area of concern
Any independents

Injured Workers have rights too we need to look deeper into this legislation.

Welcome to the Save Australia website

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

How to Express Your Will
Know and understand what your true Constitutional powers are, and how you can
lawfully use those powers to obtain the results you want your elected
parliamentarians to produce.

This site is dedicated to those Australians who wish to conserve the freedoms
provided to us by our founders and the authors of the Australian Constitution.

As individuals we are created by God and are under God, not under the government,
which is the creation of people. Government has limits on it, and those limits
are placed on it by the people (who have the ultimate authority over government)
and not the other way around. In Australia, it is the Constitution that sets out
the limits on government that the people consider appropriate.

Australia to a large extent has lost the purity and clarity of the freedoms
originally provided by the framers of our Constitution, and indeed
our pond has become very muddy.

The site is maintained by a loose association of Sovereign men and women
united in a common cause with the aid of the seven natural laws they were born with
to live, uphold and protect the rights provided by this country's founders, to
ensure that their fellow Sovereign men, women and children will retain those
rights and to become educated themselves about those rights.

"Quote". A Sovereign man/woman asks questions and gives direction.
A Slave answers questions and takes direction.

What you will find here
There are many who perceive that something is not right, but are unable
to source the correct information, or don't know how to initiate a response.
This site seeks to rectify that problem and to become a repository of
information for the benefit of all Australians.

You will find here material to assist you to educate yourself on your
responsibilities and equip yourself to uphold your rights and freedoms.

Please feel free to browse and use the material on this web site.

Finally, we thank you for your patience, parts of this site are still under
construction.

Quote:"To teach a man how he may learn to grow independently, and for himself,
is perhaps the greatest service that one man can do another".
Benjamin Jowett

Retrieved from "http://www.saveaus.info/index.php?title=Home"

Private Insurance is needed

WCV's firmly believes that Victorian workers need to source their own
workplace insurance.

We know that injured workers are not receiving their entitlements to
workplace insurance provided by Worksafe Victoria.

So, to safeguard all workers we believe there is a genuine need for workers
to insure themselves and not to rely on your employers compliance to obtain
claim entitlements.

We suggest that any insurances obtained specifically for workplace insurances
be tax deductible to the worker.

We suggest that all payments for such insurances be available to workers on
a weekly, monthly or quarterly installment plan.

This process alone would make worksafe un-viable as it takes their power to deny
workers their entitlements and force's insurance companies to defend their clients
(the workers) with appropriate legal representation and without any expense being
laid at the feet of injured workers, who can least afford it.

This process would also make the appropriate legislation inapplicable and render
worksafe useless!

We need to advocate for this opportunity!