‘Lives Are Being Lost’ As Directors Duck Safety Duty
October 31, 2007
THE voluntary approach to reducing injuries and fatalities in the workplace has “completely failed”, according to a new report
The construction workers’ union Ucatt said a large number of lives could be saved every year if directors were given legal, statutory health and safety duties.
The union commissioned a study by the Centre for Corporate Accountability which said that, since voluntary guidance on directors’ duties was introduced in 2001, only 44% of companies had appointed a senior official responsible for health and safety.
But official figures showed that four out of five firms had appointed such a director, the report said.
When a company does take positive action at senior level, major improvements are achieved, including a reduction in accidents, it was claimed.
Only seven directors or senior managers have been convicted of health and safety offences in the last five years despite an annual death toll of around 200 workers. The most fatalities were in construction, highlighted, said Ucatt, by the death of a building worker at Heathrow on Saturday. Alan Ritchie, the union’s general secretary, said, “This damning report demonstrates the Government’s failure to introduce statutory legal duties forcing directors to take responsibility for their company’s health and safety policies is literally costing workers their lives.”
UK Engineering Firm Sets Up Office In Brisbane
October 31, 2007
Scott Wilson Railways, a division of the Scott Wilson Group and one of the United Kingdom’s largest engineering firms has opened an office in the Brisbane suburb of Milton.
The company has made the move following meetings in London last year with former Queensland Premier Peter Beattie.
Regional Development and Industry Minister Desley Boyle has welcomed the company to Queensland.
“It is terrific to see yet another international company has recognised the significance of Queensland as a regional hub,” Boyle says.
