Deaths at work put sharper focus on liability

KIRSTY NEEDHAM
WORKPLACE REPORTER
September 17, 2009

VICTIM support groups have written to the Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard,
warning of the ''devastating effects'' workplace death has on the community amid
continuing union pressure against the Labor governments' reform of workplace
safety laws.

Yesterday a 48-year-old man was killed by a falling hoist at a Coca-Cola
production line in Northmead. WorkCover and police are investigating.
Under NSW law, a company must prove that it did not contribute to a death by
providing an unsafe workplace. However the Federal Government's draft new
national safety laws will drop this onus of proof in NSW. Unions will also lose the
right to prosecute if WorkCover decides not to. Business groups have welcomed
these changes.

In the letter to Ms Gillard, the conveners of workplace death support groups in
NSW, Victoria and South Australia, who have all lost children or partners in
accidents, said the reform process had ignored issues that were important to
victims' families.

In 2007, Julia Gillard launched the Workplace Tragedy Family Support Group,
formed by Cheryl Romer after her husband was crushed by a falling truckload
of steel in 1988. It took 10 years for the case to settle in court and the company
at fault was not fined. Ms Romer said yesterday she was concerned that subsequent improvements to the NSW law, for which victims' wives had lobbied hard, would
now be lost.

''Dealing with a serious injury or the death of a family member is difficult,
particularly if there is no sense of justice. Employees must be able to seek
justice against employers who do the wrong thing,'' said the conveners' letter.
Families wanted to know the responsible organisation had been held to account,
the letter said. It argued prosecution should not be the exclusive role of regulators.
Deanne May of Industrial Death Support in Victoria, whose son died in an
accident, said yesterday there was ''no excuse'' for safety laws being weakened
anywhere in Australia.

''No one is listening. They are just putting their heads in the sand and thinking,
'It won't happen to me.' I'm so sorry for the family today. I know it will be a
terrible experience for them. The laws won't make everything right, but
governments and employers should realise, here is another one,'' she said.
The man who died at the Coca-Cola plant was an electrical contractor and the
Electrical Trades Union said it was the second crush fatality this week. On
Monday a man was killed at a cement plant in Kandos.

The union and WorkCover said it was too early to comment on the circumstances
of the deaths. Coca-Cola said it was offering support to the dead man's family
and co-operating fully with investigators.

The ETU secretary, Bernie Riordan, said the union was concerned about the
proposed change to the onus of proof in NSW. ''We would not accept any
changes that make it more difficult for victims' families to achieve a conviction
or justice against any negligent employer,'' he said.

The chief executive of the Australian Industry Group, Heather Ridout, said
treating employers as guilty until proven innocent ''is inconsistent with the
general principles at the heart of the criminal law''.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald