Job deaths a crime

By Maritime Union of Australia

A CSR Shipping executive told delegates to the annual Seacare conference held in Darling Harbour in November that he believed managers responsible for unsafe work environments that lead to deaths or serious injury should be gaoled.

General Manager, CSR Shipping Peter Bremner said while his company now had a policy of sacking anyone in management guilty of breach job safety regulations leading to death or serious accident, he also thought prison terms appropriate.

MUA Assistant National Secretary Mick Doleman agreed: “As a union official I could get quite excited at the prospect of getting a lynching mob together to string up a few bosses, but I seriously believe we live in a democratic society and after due legal process, prison is the place for anyone responsible for a workplace death.”

Both comments were in response to a question from MUA OH&S representatives Eddie Seymour after presentations by industry spokespeople.
Next to the union CSR was by far the most enthusiastic prominent of workplace safety, arguing that it not only saved lives, but made his ships more competitive.

Peter Bremner described CSR as the oldest surviving shipping business dating back 132 years.

“Safety is number on item on the agenda,” he said. “We believe if you can’t manage safety you can’t manage anything. Any manager whose business isn’t demonstrating the appropriate level of improvement is allowed three years to achieve a turn around. Failure can lead to dismissal.”

Peter Bremner argued that concern for worker safety was a fundamental obligation of one human being to another. Masters and chief engineers are told to stop the job if there are any doubts about safety. But the general manager also argued it was good business. Pre employment medicals find 5 per cent of seafarers seeking jobs are unfit. And this would cost the company around $480,000.

“That’s enough to run our ship Ormiston for 32 days,” he said. “Alternatively, this is an additional 60 cents a tone on the freight rate for the 800,000 tonnes of cargo the Ormiston carries annually.”

CSR safety culture was behind a dramatic drop in injuries, with the average down from 32 in 1996 to two in 2003 and 2004.

No work deaths have been recorded in the Australian shipping industry now for nine years, according to the Seacare annual report, but injuries and compensation claims had not dropped in line with government targets.

The annual report which was scheduled to be tabled in Parliament in November is available on the website.

Other speakers were from Heather Baily, Marine Standards,Woodside and Kieran Quilty, Marine Safety Co-ordinator Team Gemini, Teekay who pointed out that in 1994 before implementation of safety legislation OHS Maritime Act 20-30 million working days were lost due to work injury at a cost of $20 billion. That is now down to $1.26 million and 8.8 million working days around a one third drop.

Meanwhile Workplace Express report that the Federal Parliament Library has released a new research brief that outlines recent legislative developments on the issue of industrial manslaughter.

The brief provides a snapshot of legislation introduced in various Australian jurisdictions as well as the UK and Canada.

A copy of the report is available to download from the MUA website.

Meanwhile in South Australia a new draft bill provides for $500,000 fines and prison terms for up to 20 years for employers or management who negligently contribute to a workplace fatality.

See also National Secretary Paddy Crumlin Seacare speech, p9 or download the full transcript on the website.

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