Workers call for stronger health & safety laws with national meetings and rallies

Thousands of workers and families of people who have died or been injured at work will call on state, federal and territory governments today to bring in stronger workplace health and safety protections at a series of nation wide events on Tuesday 1 September.

The national meetings and rallies are in response to government proposals to bring in one set of new standardised national workplace health and safety laws, called ‘OHS Harmonisation’.

ACTU Secretary Jeff Lawrence said that Australian workers deserved the best possible health and safety laws.

“With an estimated 7,000 Australians dying each year as a result of workplace injuries or diseases it is essential the governments’ proposed changes to workplace health and safety do not undermine standards or put more Australian workers and their families at risk.”

“Employers must be clearly responsible for making workplaces safe, workers’ health and safety representatives must have the power they need to do their job, and unions must be able to take court action to fix safety problems.”