Workplace Health and Safety Council established

A new union, employer and government leadership group on health and safety has been established.
The Workplace Health and Safety Council (WHSC) will provide advice to government on health and safety legislation, standards and policies, and on ways to progress the implementation of the Workplace Health and Safety Strategy (WHSS), initiated in June 2005.
Union representation on the Council includes CTU secretary Carol Beaumont and finsec General Secretary Andrew Casidy, and the CTU president also holds a position ex-oficio, in a rotating Chair basis with the Business New Zealand CEO and the Minister of Labour.  Employers are represented by Paul Jarvie from the Employer and Manufacturers Association (Northern) and barrister and consultant Panu Raea.
CTU president Ross Wilson said that the strategy and Council needed to be backed up by action at all levels.
“There are many reasons why unions must organise around health and safety, not least of which is the massive toll that workplace injuries, accidents and illness takes on workers. 
“We know that the costs of workplace disease and injury are born largely by injured workers and their families, and this is backed up by the 2006 NOHSAC report which estimated the full cost of occupational disease and injury to be $20.9 billion annually, and that only 2% of these total costs are compensated by government agencies such as ACC and Work & Income.”
 

For more information about the WHSS Action Plan go to http://www.whss.govt.nz/actionplan.shtml