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Comcare Decision Wrong for Future Health & Safety of Workers
The Transport Workers Union has today responded to the decision by the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission to grant self-insurance licences under Comcare to transport companies TNT and Transpacific, and defer a decision on Fleetmaster.
This decision to allow TNT and Transpacific to shift their workers to Comcare will lead to their drivers losing the protections of superior state based safety and driver fatigue regulations.
The Commission was correct to have deferred the application of Fleetmaster to enter the scheme. TNT and Transpacific drivers deserve the protection of similar scrutiny.
TWU National Assistant Secretary Michael Kaine: “this decision will certainly threaten the future safety of workers within these companies and other road users.
“We already have an industry that has an extremely poor safety record, with 228 people losing their lives as a result of heavy vehicle incidents in the last financial year.”
The TWU maintains that workers will be significantly worse off after being shifted from a state based system to Comcare in the following ways:
- No access to Workers’ Compensation entitlements including journey and recess claims;
- Inferior amounts of compensation payments in respect of lump sum and, in some circumstances, weekly payments’
- Side-stepping of the substantial, industry supported safety provisions in various instruments, including OH&S laws, codes of practice, industrial instruments, and the capacity of authorised officers to enter premises and conduct inspections; and
- Significantly inferior Occupational Health and Safety Committees in terms of function, structure and constitution.
“Adding insult to potential injury, these companies have also failed to properly consult with their workeforce before throwing away their OH&S protections and workers compensation rights”, Mr Kaine said.
“These companies were allowed to slip into Comcare under the cover of darkness by former Workplace Relations Minister Joe Hockey less than 24 hours before the election was called.
“It is clear that working families across Australia firmly rejected the previous Federal Government’s attacks on their rights at work.
“Yet we still have the SRCC allowing these companies to continue down the path created by that government that will see these workers health and safety in the workplace suffer.
“Deputy Prime Minister Gillard’s decision to freeze further applications to allow a review of the whole Comcare scheme is most welcome”
The TWU will now be consulting with all the affected employees to work through protecting their health and safety rights in their workplaces.
Media contact Josh McIntosh 0408 463 199.
19 June 2008
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