Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise on a matter of public interest—the need for ongoing vigilance in relation to workplace health and safety within Australia. As we come to the end of the parliamentary year and we look forward to spending the festive season with our family and friends, it is appropriate that we spare a thought for those Australian families who will spend this Christmas without a loved one or a friend due to a workplace accident or a workplace related disease.

I am sure that many Australians are unaware that more than 2,000 fatalities take place each year as a result of workplace accidents and industrial diseases. This figure is an estimate because of the long latency period of some industrial diseases. The figure exceeds the national road toll, which for the year to date is just over 1,220. No-one in this place would equate human tragedy to economic outcomes. Nevertheless, it is estimated that the cost of workplace injuries and deaths to the community is approximately $30 billion per year. The highest death rate is in agriculture, forestry and fishing with 19 deaths per 100,000 employees. The next highest is transport and storage with 12.3 deaths per 100,000 employees, followed by mining with 6.8 deaths per 100,000 employees, manufacturing with two deaths per 100,000 employees and construction with 3.5 deaths per 100,000 employees.

The most common causes of workplace fatalities are vehicle accidents, being hit by moving and falling objects, a fall from a height, electrocution or being trapped by moving machinery. Between 2003-04 and 2006-07 the number of notified workplace fatalities increased by 13.7 per cent. As the nation faces unprecedented challenges due to the global financial crisis, workers in many industries will be faced with employer demands to improve productivity in a bid to maintain international competitiveness and profitability. I support a quest for international competitiveness and profitability provided this is not pursued through a process of reducing pay, destroying conditions, cutting costs or ignoring the health and safety of Australian workers. As industry faces these new and emerging challenges, it is absolutely essential that the challenges are met in a manner which maintains and improves the health and safety of all Australian employees.

In my time as a union official there was nothing worse than hearing about a worker who had been maimed or killed as a result of an industrial accident. Unfortunately, like many union officials, I have had to comfort the family of a worker who has lost their life in a workplace accident. It is a horrible experience, but this experience pales into insignificance against the tragedy and devastation that has been experienced by more than 2,000 families each year. It is almost inconceivable for most Australians to consider the possibility that their loved ones will leave for work and never come home again. It is almost inconceivable to think that your family could be so cruelly affected by a workplace accident. Unfortunately, many workplace accidents do not receive much publicity or public attention. There must be an increased focus and public awareness of workplace accidents and deaths. As in the case of laws regulating traffic safety, workplace health and safety should be supported by prescribed preventative measures, by punitive measures where breaches of preventative measures are ignored and, in the case of the most serious violations of preventative measures, by criminal offences with criminal penalties.

Introducing industrial manslaughter provisions into criminal law would merely follow an established pattern of law within Australia and would allow prosecutors to respond to the most blatant workplace safety violations with the full vigour of a comprehensive legal system. If the existing regulation continues to result in approximately 2,000 Australians dying each year, then a systematic process of persuasion, warnings, civil penalties and criminal penalties must be considered in an effort to reduce workplace fatalities within Australia. Some workplace fatalities have received extremely high publicity. Notwithstanding this, many of the 2,000 cases of workplace fatalities receive only minimal publicity. This creates a problem in developing effective ongoing prevention measures.

I would like to turn to the specific issue of asbestos disease. Friday, 28 November was Asbestos Awareness Day. I have had a long association with the Asbestos Diseases Foundation of Australia. I am proud to be a patron of the foundation. My first significant experience with asbestos in the workplace was when I was employed as a maintenance fitter at Liddell Power Station in the early seventies. Chrysotile asbestos, commonly known as white asbestos, was used routinely in the power station to insulate steam pipes and pumps. It was also used as gaskets on the boiler and as packing glands in pumps. Asbestos sheets were used by boilermakers and fitters when welding or cutting. To remove asbestos, fitters would simply ‘chop out’ asbestos lagging with chisels and small axes. We would also use high-pressure air tools to remove nuts from bolts, and this created a windstorm of asbestos dust in the vicinity of the workplace. We did not use any protective clothing or respirators.

Despite the growing literature and understanding of the problems of asbestos, the then Electricity Commission of New South Wales continued to argue that it was only crocidolite asbestos—that is, blue asbestos—that endangered your health. The combined unions in the power industry conducted a statewide campaign in power stations for the removal of asbestos and the provision of protective clothing and respirators. This campaign was successful and no doubt saved many, many lives. The use of protective safety equipment became a standard operating procedure and the culture within the Electricity Commission changed significantly.

The situation in the power industry was by no means unique; asbestos was widely used throughout industry and in the construction of what were described as ‘fibro’ houses throughout the country. One of the legacies of the use of asbestos in older houses is that new cases of asbestos related disease are increasing, arising from home renovations.

One of my first jobs as a union organiser was to assist members in Barraba, New South Wales, who were employed by the Woods Reef asbestos mine. They were facing the closure of the mine, not for health and safety or environmental reasons but for reasons of profitability. I was appalled at the conditions; asbestos dust was everywhere, like snow on the ground, with plant and equipment smothered in thick deposits of chrysotile asbestos. Workers were torn between concern for their safety and their ongoing employment opportunities, and the propaganda from the company that white asbestos did them no harm. I note that even now the legacy of that mine is controversial and locals are concerned about the amount of asbestos dust emanating from the site. I have heard estimates of over $100 million to clean up this industrial disaster area. Once again, the legacy became the responsibility of government and not the industrial polluter.

Much has been said and written about that great Australian Bernie Banton, who contracted asbestosis from his employment at James Hardie in Sydney. The anniversary of Bernie’s death was 27 November. One of Prime Minister Rudd’s first actions was to attend Bernie’s funeral and pay tribute to Bernie, his wife, Karen, and his family. The loss of such a courageous Australian at the age of 61 was a tragedy for Bernie’s family, the community and the nation. I consider myself fortunate to have known Bernie and to have assisted him in a small way in his successful fight for justice against James Hardie. The fight against James Hardie was a memorable period for the trade union movement in its campaign on health and safety. Forcing James Hardie to accept the responsibility of its actions and holding the board to account was a credit to the ACTU, the AMWU, the CFMEU, the MUA and all unions who have campaigned for justice for asbestos sufferers.

Bernie originally contracted asbestosis, which became mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is an insidious and desperately horrible disease. Diagnosis of mesothelioma is currently a death sentence. Another friend of mine, a former National President of the AMWU, Brian Fraser, was cut down in his prime after contracting mesothelioma as a result of his work with asbestos in a Queensland dockyard. Brian’s death deprived three young girls of their father and left their mother, Eleanor, without her partner and soul mate. Watching Brian, a strapping six-foot-plus Irishman, fight the ravages of mesothelioma was both heartbreaking and inspiring. Brian spent the last days of his life fighting for financial compensation for his family, and it was only on his deathbed that a settlement was reached. This, in my view, was uncivilised, degrading and unnecessary.

Statistics on the New South Wales Dust Diseases Board website show that for New South Wales alone there will be 6,779 cases of asbestos related disease and mesothelioma between 2004 and 2060. The incidence will peak in 2014, with 196 residents of New South Wales dying from asbestos related disease. Many of these unfortunate people will suffer a cruel, painful and undignified death.

I want to place on record my support and admiration for the support workers from asbestos disease groups around Australia. In particular, I want to recognise the work of the Asbestos Diseases Foundation of Australia, based in Granville, New South Wales, of which I am a patron. I want to particularly recognise the fantastic work of their president, Barrie Robson; their secretary, Eileen Day, who lost her husband to mesothelioma; and founding member Ella Sweeney, who is currently very ill from asbestos related disease. This group rely on raffles and other fundraising activity to help them provide support services to the victims of asbestos diseases and their families.

In conclusion, there are a number of issues I would like to pursue in my role as a senator. I would like to see a national monument in Canberra, our national capital, that recognises the contribution of workers who have lost their lives while assisting in the building of this nation. This would be a recognition of the families who are left behind to pick up the pieces after the untimely death of a loved one. I also believe that we must constantly monitor the effectiveness of our laws in providing a safe and healthy workplace for Australian workers. If our laws are not working and thousands of Australians continue to die as a result of workplace accident or disease, then changes should be made to the law to ensure that compliance, enforcement and criminal penalties bring about a cultural change.

Finally, I believe we have a responsibility in our region to assist developing countries to understand the problems associated with the use of asbestos. Australia should lead the fight for both a regional and an international ban on the use of asbestos. Asbestos is being exported from countries such as Canada and Russia to developing countries, with the inevitability that more and more innocent workers will contract asbestos related disease and suffer an untimely, painful and undignified death. I thank the Senate for allowing me to raise this matter of public importance.