Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the following matter be referred to the Education and Employment References Committee for inquiry and report by 14 August 2018:

Work health and safety of workers in the offshore petroleum industry, with particular reference to:

(a) the scope and necessity for amending and updating any legislative inconsistencies in the relevant work health and safety scheme, including:

  (i) any provisions in the legislation which need to be updated,

  (ii) providing for appropriate consistency between the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (OPGGS Act) and the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act),

  (iii) legislative changes required to the OPGGS Act to provide for appropriate consistency with the model work health and safety laws (as revised in June 2011), and

  (iv) legislative changes which recognise that the work is undertaken in remote locations;

(b) the effectiveness of the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) and equivalent state and territory offshore petroleum regulators (the regulators) in promoting the work health and safety of persons engaged in offshore petroleum operations;

(c) the accountability framework to which NOPSEMA is subject with respect to work health and safety matters, and whether this needs to be strengthened;

(d) the role and structure of the NOPSEMA Board and options for improving the effectiveness of their stakeholder engagement;

(e) the workings of NOPSEMA's collaboration, and working relationships, with other work health and safety regulators and bodies, including Safe Work Australia;

(f) challenges in attracting and retaining health and safety representatives;

(g) the adequacy of the protections afforded to health and safety representatives performing their functions under the relevant legislation;

(h) policies and practices which could be adopted by NOPSEMA to better support health and safety representatives;

(i) factors impacting on the work health and safety of workers in the offshore petroleum industry;

(j) Government policies at the state, territory and Commonwealth level which have a significant impact on the work health and safety of workers in the offshore petroleum industry;

(k) relevant parallels or strategies in an international context;

(l) the role of Government in providing a coordinated strategic approach to health and safety outcomes in the offshore petroleum industry; and

(m) any other related matters.