|
|
MEDIA RELEASE
NICK XENOPHON M.L.C. INDEPENDENT NO POKIES
MEMBER OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 18
October 2004 major work safety conference told
of government’s ‘double standard’ in its ‘law and order’ campaign: ROGUE
EMPLOYERS TO BE TARGETED WITH INDUSTRIAL MANSLAUGHTER LAWS
The
directors and senior officers of companies responsible for the death of
employees in the workplace, would face up to 20 years jail under proposed
industrial manslaughter laws to be introduced into State Parliament later this
year.
The
legislation, to be introduced by No Pokies MLC Nick Xenophon, is modelled on
legislation passed in November 2003 by the ACT Government. He will release a
consultative draft when speaking at the ‘Simply Safety’ conference at Old
Adelaide Gaol, which will be attended by 150 senior Occupational Health and
Safety managers for some of the State’s biggest employers.
It
is almost impossible to prosecute a company or its senior officers under current
manslaughter laws because legal precedents don’t allow for a company’s
‘corporate culture’ or the combined conduct of a number of senior officers
to be taken into account.
Mr.
Xenophon said:
“In
2002, 24 South Australians died as a result of work accidents - and up to 120
more died painful lingering deaths because of industrial diseases like
mesothelioma and asbestosis. Current
penalties for workplace deaths and serious injury and are woefully
inadequate”.
“If
the Rann Government is serious about its ‘law and order’ campaign it needs
to get tough in the workplace too”.
“Decent
employers who do the right thing by their workers would have nothing to fear
with this legislation – it’s targeted at those rogue employers who have a
contemptuous disregard for the safety of their workforce”.
“In
fact, responsible employers should welcome industrial manslaughter laws - which
will mean safer workplaces, fewer deaths and injuries, and ultimately lower
worker’s compensation premiums”.
Mr.
Xenophon pointed to the many thousands of deaths in
“The
evidence is clear – that some senior company officers and some directors of
asbestos manufacturers knew that asbestos could kill those exposed to it, but
they made a commercial decision to keep making and selling this deadly stuff.”
“If
industrial manslaughter laws were in place decades earlier, the threat of jail
for asbestos manufacturers could well have changed their corporate behaviour and
thousands of lives could have been saved”. “Industrial manslaughter laws will mean that large corporations will no longer be able to write off a worker’s life as a business deduction”.
Written and authorised by Nick Xenophon, 653 Lower North East Road, Paradise, SA 5075
|