Attorney-General and Minister for Industrial Relations
The Honourable Cameron Dick

Friday, May 15, 2009

Construction industry commits to Zero Harm at Work

Industrial Relations Minister Cameron Dick will today launch the Zero Harm at Work Leadership Program for the Queensland construction industry, at a forum of around 50 CEOs and industry leaders.

Mr Dick said the program aims to improve safety on building and construction sites in Queensland, by changing attitudes from the top down.

“Zero Harm at Work aims to build a positive safety culture in Queensland workplaces, to help reduce the number and severity of workplace health and safety incidents,” Mr Dick said.

“While the construction industry is making progress in the area of Workplace Health and Safety, there is still an urgent need for change, to prevent death and injury on Queensland construction sites.

“We want all Queensland workers to make it home to their families at the end of each day.”

Mr Dick said rate of injury in the construction industry is 18 workers injured per 1,000 employees. This compares to an all industry rate of 15 workers injured per 1000, in 2008.

“Significant cultural changes need to occur within the construction industry to turn these figures around,” Mr Dick said.

“The Queensland Government is committed to making our workplaces among the healthiest and safest in the nation, but we can’t do it alone.

“Real and sustainable improvements in workplace health and safety can only be achieved by the engagement and unwavering commitment of industry leaders.

“Today’s forum is a big step in the right direction, with around 50 CEOs and industry leaders from across the construction industry coming together to make a commitment to make a culture of Zero Harm at Work the norm and not the exception.”

Mr Dick said building safe workplaces has huge social and economic benefits for businesses and the state as a whole.

“Each year in Queensland, there are about 100 work-related fatalities and nearly 30,000 serious injuries and diseases with workers requiring more than five days off work,” he said.

“Overall, total workplace incidents cost the Queensland economy more than $5.2 billion dollars a year.

“In these tough economic times, everyone needs to work together to make our workplaces safer.

“The Bligh Government has set targets through Workplace Health and Safety Queensland to reduce injuries by 40% and fatalities by 20% by 2012.

“We want to ensure our businesses are as safe and productive as possible, to secure Queensland jobs and keep the economy strong,” said Mr Dick.

Effective management of health and safety risks can:

• greatly reduce the potential for people getting killed, injured or sick at work;
• maximise productivity and wellbeing of all workers by reducing absenteeism, downtime, and labour turnover;
• avoid negative effects on profitability, such as lost time and high workers’ compensation costs;
• minimise the likelihood of prosecution for safety breaches;
• encourage better relationships with contractors and suppliers; and
• improve the organisation’s reputation in the eyes of investors, customers, competitors, suppliers and the community.

Queensland Workplace Health and Safety Board Chair Vince O’Rourke told industry leaders at the forum today that they must drive the cultural change needed to implement a zero harm approach to workplace health and safety in their own organisations.

“Industry leaders can motive their peers and encourage their industry to achieve higher health and safety standards,” Mr O’Rourke said.

“But in individual companies it is the attitudes and decisions of boards, CEOs and senior managers that set the priorities, so they are critical in fostering a zero harm culture in their workplaces.

“Leadership is at the heart of building a zero harm safety culture. They must drive cultural change from the top down to create positive change in their own organisations.”

Mr O’Rourke said the program was designed to motivate and encourage organisations to voluntarily strive for zero harm at work by:

• providing an ongoing forum to foster and promote leadership in workplace health and safety in the construction industry;
• providing examples of good practices and sharing lessons learnt that can assist other workplaces to improve;
• promoting the adoption of a zero harm at work culture through cooperation and knowledge sharing;
• providing practical advice, support, materials and tools to implement a zero harm culture.

While the inaugural forum targeted construction CEOs, the Zero Harm at Work Leadership Program will be expanded in coming months to include other priority high-risk industries.

For further information visit www.worksafe.qld.gov.au or call Workplace Health and Safety Queensland on 1300 369 915 and ask for the Zero Harm at Work Leadership Program coordinator.


Media contacts: 3239 3487 or 3224 7481

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