INDUSTRIAL AND CONSUMER MANUFACTURING
INDUSTRY REFERENCE GROUPS
MEETING NOTES
DATE
TIME
LOCATION
Wednesday 13 April 2005
0930 - 1230
Meeting Room 1-2, Level 10,
Building C, Centennial Plaza Building
300 Elizabeth (cnr Fovaux St, near Central railway station)
Sydney NSW 2000
PRESENT
John Lynch
Tricia Kemp
Alan Mansfield
Brett Ellwood
Tim Abrams
Ian MacCowan
Glenn McCarthy
Patrick Dunn
Heather Scott
Susanne Hollis
John Robb
Vicki Cosgrove
J. Lynch Engineering Pty Ltd
Australian Industry Group
AMWU
CFMEU (Forestry & Furnishing)
Printing and Allied Trades Employers Association
Construction and Mining Equipment Industry Group
OHS Division Rep, WorkCover
ICA Representative
Insurance Division Representative, WorkCover
WorkCover, Presenter
Convenor, WorkCover
Minutes, WorkCover
APOLOGIES
Ken McKell
Ken Stenner
Andrew Papandreas
Darryl Woodhouse
Ken Hocking
Murray Cameron
Kevin Anderson
Dave Henry
Allan Tomkins
Khayum Muhammad
George Vorobieff
Australian Meat Industry Council
Printing and Allied Trades Employers Association
AIG / SimsMetal
AIG / SimsMetal
Timber Trade Industrial Association
ABL / Metalcorp Recyclers
ABL / Norske-Skög Paper Mills (Aust) Ltd, Albury
AMWU
CGU ICA Rep
Baking Industry Association
Construction and Mining Equipment Industry Group
1.
WELCOME, INTRODUCTIONS AND APOLOGIES
The Convenor opened the meeting at 9:35am and welcomed:
 Vicki Cosgrove, Senior Project Officer from the WorkCover’s Retail, Wholesale,
Transport and Storage Team, acting for Callista Kent as minute taker.
 Susanne Hollis from IRG Branch (Presenter)
 Tim Abrams, deputising for Ken Stenner (PATEA)
 Ian MacCowan from Komatsu Australia, representing CMEIG
 Glenn McCarthy from WorkCover’s OHSD Manufacturing Industry Team
 Heather Scott, the IRG Insurance Division rep, back from long leave.
Unconfirmed
Unconfirmed
2
MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
The Convenor advised that para 4 to the previous minutes would be replaced with the
new para 4 at Attachment 1. The minutes of 23 February 2005, as amended, were
accepted.
Moved: Brett Ellwood
Seconded:
John Lynch
2.1
Business Arising from the Previous Minutes
Safety Summit issues are being addressed in various Manufacturing Industry Team
projects and Project reports are included in the regular OHS Division Reports to the IRG.
3.
PRESENTATION/WORKSHOP - DEVELOPING INDUSTRY OPTIONS FOR
ADDRESSING OHS AND INJURY MANAGEMENT ISSUES
Susanne Hollis, IRG Branch, discussed the IRG Branch project to collect ‘good practice’
examples of activities or projects that members have been involved in or are aware of
(presentation notes are at Attachment 3). The aim of the project is to build a portfolio of
activities/projects that have worked for particular industries that all IRGs can draw on
when planning their future work activities.
The meeting divided into groups of two or three to record the activities/projects that have
been cost-effective and have positively influenced sectors of the manufacturing industry.
Further information and/or queries should be directed to IRG Branch (Pauline Kavanagh)
on 02-4321 5001.
4.
NOMINATIONS FOR SAFE DESIGN (BUILDINGS/FACILITIES) SEMINAR - 03
JUNE 2005 The Safe Design Advisory Group was established in WorkCover in October 2005 to
address safe design issues across industries. The Advisory Group will be running a oneday seminar at Parramatta on 03 June 2005 and each IRG is allocated two
representatives. At this stage there will be 130 persons attending. More details are
provided in the briefing paper emailed to members.
Discussion took place around the focus of the seminar, which is on building design to
alleviate the difficulties/safety risks faced by building users. In the majority of
applications, simple design changes could eliminate serious injury risks. Examples
discussed were: locating woodwork/metal work rooms on ground floor of schools (manual
handling of materials), installing waste removal systems so cleaners are not required to
move large, heavy waste bins up and down stairs, and designing for ease of building
maintenance (eg. window washing) and equipment maintenance (eg. air conditioning
systems).
The following members were nominated by the meeting to represent the IRG at the
Seminar in June 2005:
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Patricia Kemp
Dave Henry
John Lynch also expressed an interest in attending if a ‘back up’ person was required
5.
WORKPLAN ACTIVITIES
5.1
Contractor/On-Hire Labour Project
 Working Group has still not met
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complimentary project in the Business Services IRG was progressing and the two
Convenors are working closely together.
Janet Chan has briefed the Manufacturing Industry Team with a view to the Team
participating in a pilot with some manufacturing employers (to test certain assumptions
drawn from the case law research).
Susanne Hollis, the Business Services IRG Convenor, added that research has
indicated that On-Hire Labour is a significant cost driver for the WC Insurance Scheme
and has become a WorkCover priority area.
The Recruitment & Consulting Services Association (RCSA) developed a Guide for
the on-hire labour industry in 1999 and the RCSA is considering updating the guide.
Research of case law indicates that most incidents occur because of a break down in
the area of induction training and on-site supervision.
On-hire labour companies know what has to be done but not how to comply.
The Convenor tabled a draft ‘Summary of Steps for Engaging a Contractor (Attachment 2.
Points of discussion were:
 The critical aspect of hiring contractors/contract workers is specifying the work to
be done in ‘bite-size chunks’ so that all aspects of the work can be identified (such
as plant and substances, safety risks, controls, competencies, PPE etc), which go
to make up terms and conditions of the contract.
 A more useful approach would be to separate the project into ‘engaging contracted
workers’ and ‘engaging contractors’.
 The project ‘engaging contracted workers’ will more closely compliment the
Business Services IRG project.
 Assessing the effects of the contract work on the workplace and
eliminating/controlling any new risks should be reinforced
 another point should be added to the summary to ensure on-hire staff in longerterm placements are included in OHS workplace consultations.
 employers may be at risk if they assume that the correct competencies will be
present in contract workers and that it’s safer to (formally) assess the
competencies of each worker.
 The Business Services IRG is working towards developing a ‘job order form’ that
can be used to develop/record terms and conditions for the on-hire labour contract.
The ‘job order form’ would:
o identify shared OHS responsibilities between Labour-Hire and employers.
o encourage discussion between labour supplier and labour user to highlight
the responsibilities of each and the overlapping responsibilities (eg. training
and supervision).
o assist in identifying what safe work systems are needed
o assist in identifying the right person for the job
o highlight potential for Labour-Hire companies to factor the cost of OHS into
quotes for the supply of labour.
o has the potential to be used by other industries.
5.2.1 Manual Handling in the Printing and Baking Industries
The project as previously defined, has stalled and is unlikely to continue. In place
of the IRG project, both the Baking Industry and the Printing Industry associations
have received WorkCover Assist program grants and are working on similar
projects as follows.
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Baking industry association
o has received a WorkCover assist grant to develop a Risk Management
document for the industry.
o A consultant has been engaged and has visited retail and wholesale outlets
to define hazards and develop a hierarchy of risks and controls.
o Visits have been done in consultation with the industry through consultation
meetings and a website forum.
o The project will produce a web-based resource for the industry with relevant
examples of risk management.
o ‘fatigue’ (shift work) is an issue that should also be taken into consideration
when looking at risk management eg. fatigue contributes to an increased
risk in manual handling incidents.
Printing and Allied Trades Employers Association
PATEA is developing an OHS booklet for small to medium businesses.
6.
INDUSTRY REPORTS – refer BIA and PATEA information in Item 5.
7.
WORKCOVER FEEDBACK
7.1
OHS Division
The WorkCover Manufacturing Team has recently completed a safety intervention project
in the Wooden Furniture and Upholstered Seat Manufacturing industry. The main purpose
of the project was to raise the overall level of safety performance in the Wooden Furniture
Manufacturing sector. The project had a compliance/enforcement component but the
main emphasis was on education by providing safety information, and hazard and risk
assessment tools. Inspectors were able to visit 47 of the companies allocated to them.
Glen McCarthy provided an overview of the project. The project is complete but the final
report is not yet available. Feedback from the employers involved regarding WorkCover
inspector advice and assistance during visits was very positive. Most employers
appreciated the opportunity to have a free audit their OHS processes but accepted that
the Inspector’s had the two roles: education and compliance.
7.2
Insurance Division
Heather Scott spoke to the ID Report at Attachment 4.
8.
OTHER BUSINESS
8.1
Statistical Bulletin 2002/03
The Statistical Bulletin 2002/03 has been published and is available on WorkCover’s
website; copies of the ‘introduction’ pages of the Bulletin containing the table of contents
(TOC) were distributed to group. The e-copy of the Bulletin on the web site is broken into
parts and the paper version of the TOC will help members to find the particular parts of
interest.
From the home page (www.workcover.nsw.gov.au ), under ‘Highlights’, click on ‘New
Workers Compensation Statistical Bulletin 2002/2003’.
8.2
Workplace Fatalities Bill
The Convenor advised that the Minister had announced that, resulting from the
consultation process, the Occupational Health and Safety Amendment (Workplace
Deaths) Bill 2004 will not be introduced in its current form.
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8.3
NOHSC Draft Manual Handling National Standard and Code of Practice
Advice of the consultation process for the documents was emailed to members.
Discussion occurred regard the IRG response to the document and whether the IRG
could formally comment.
Action: Convenor to consider appropriateness of an IRG response to the NOHSC draft
MH documents.
9.
NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, 18 May 2005
John Robb
Convenor, Ph:02 4321 5103, Mob: 0421 611 164, Fax: 02 9287 5103, Email:
john.robb@workcover.nsw.gov.au
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Attachment 1 to
IRG 4-5 Minutes of
13 April 2005
New para 4 of IRG 4-5 Minutes of 23 February 2005
4.
PRESENTATION: WORKCOVER SAFETY AWARDS
The Convenor introduced Lynette Harper, WorkCover’s Corporate Communications
Project Manager, who presented a summary of the WorkCover NSW Safe Work Awards
2004.
The following table shows the complete list of finalists in each category, with the winner
shown in bold.
Best solution to an identified
workplace health and safety issue
Best solution to a workplace manual
handling hazard
Best Workplace health and safety
management program
Best training program (two awards)
Best workplace health and safety
initiative in small business
Workplace Safety Champion –
medium/ large businesses
Premium Discount Scheme:
Outstanding Achievement - Small /
medium employer
Premium Discount Scheme:
Outstanding Achievement - Large
employer
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Rojen Roofing
BlueScope Steel Limited
Police Association of NSW
Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind
Children
West Wallsend Colliery
Duren Transport
Concord Repatriation General Hospital
Northern Rivers Area Health Service
OneSteel Market Mills
Zoological Parks Board of New South
Wales
Mission Australia
Catholic Schools Office
SewerFix Pumping Stations Program
Bovis Lend Lease P/L
State Transit Authority
Department of Community Services
Helpline and Health Services Australia
State Transit Authority
Sydney Children’s Hospital
Tempo Services Limited
All Type Plastics
Stephen Winner – RailCorp
Duncan Hislop – OneSteel Market Mills
Scott O’Connor – OneSteel Market Mills
Alan Hammoud – RailCorp
Continental Ace Pty Ltd
Hardi Nursing Home Management Pty
Ltd (Wyoming Nursing Home)
Weyerhaeuser Australia Pty Ltd
Baptist Community Services – NSW &
ACT
UNCONFIRMED
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Presentation Main Points
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Eighty entries were received in the eight categories and this was considered an
excellent result for the program’s first year, particularly considering the very short
timeframe from start to finish of the awards process.
WorkCover is sharing the outcomes with NSW businesses as quickly as possible so
that proven initiatives and innovations can find their way into widespread practical
application in workplaces around NSW.
While all of the entries demonstrated various levels of compliance with OHS
legislation, the twenty-three finalists were judged to have achieved a level
substantially above that required.
Finalists received site visits from WorkCover inspectors who were very impressed with
the standard of all finalists.
The successful applications demonstrated a strong consultative culture with all
affected stakeholders.
Many of the winners produced simple but effective solutions to their problems.
More information on the 2004 WorkCover NSW Safe Work Awards can be viewed
through the following link:
http://www.workcover.nsw.gov.au/NoticesEvents/SafeWorkAwards/safeawards_results.htm
Comments
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Information about the 2005 awards will be available on WorkCover’s website from
April 2005.
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There are approximately 386,000 employers in the WorkCover Scheme
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The award is a solid aluminium trophy on a black base. All winners and finalists
receive a Certificate.
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A question was raised about whether the judging placed any weighting on
innovations. For example, innovation in roofing may save lives, whereas innovation in
musical instruments may prevent workers compensation claims. Lynette advised that
there were categories to distinguish these issues and that the judging criteria will be
available on WorkCover’s website.
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A comment was made that the quality of written work/presentation would seem to
have an impact on the judging; this would disadvantage some small businesses that
would otherwise be competitive for awards. Lynette responded that this does not
have an impact. The primary issue considered in assessment of the written
applications is how thoroughly the judging criteria for a category are addressed.
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Attachment 2 to
IRG 4-5 Minutes of
13 April 2005
DRAFT
SUMMARY OF STEPS FOR ENGAGING A CONTRACTOR
Following are logical steps that may be taken when considering using
contractors/contracted workers. Each step may result in several pages or one or two
lines, depending on the complexity of the contracted work.
1 – Specify the work to be contracted - break down the work into
logical packets, identify hazards from plant, substances and work
practices. Assess OHS risks and determine controls.
2 - Specify the competency standards for the work. ie. what specific
skills, knowledge and attitudes must the contract workers have.
3 – Assess the effects of the contract work on the
workplace and eliminate/control any new risks.
4 – Address the pre-contract issues for contracted work eg.
evidence of competency of contract workers, supervision, Plant/
Substances/ Materials, Sub-Contractor’s Workers Comp insurance.
5 – Write down the Terms and Conditions for the Contract (from
Steps 1-4) and specify who has responsibility for what.
6 – Before contract workers enter workplace make sure T&C are met (ie.
workers are trained and have ‘tickets’ and PPE), coordination/ liaison and
spvsn are in place, employees have been briefed
7 – Provide Induction and other training for contract
workers and employees.
8 – Supervise/Monitor the Contracted Work.
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Attachment 3 to
IRG 4-5 Minutes of
13 April 2005
WORKSHOP:
DEVELOPING A LIST OF OPTIONS FOR BUILDING INDUSTRIES
CAPACITY TO ADDRESS OHS & INJURY MANAGEMENT
ISSUES
Presentation to Manufacturing IRG, 13 April 2005
by
Susanne Hollis
Convenor, IRG Branch
WorkCover
1
Purpose of this WorkshopIRG Branch currently developing a list of
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possible activities for IRGs to consider when addressing OHS and injury
management issues
Seeking ideas from IRG members on what activities they have seen work
well in their industry sector
We are specifically looking for non-IRG examples todaySeeking ideas
from other areas eg. across WorkCover, nationally and internationally.
Not just projects- think of everything you do
It is intended this information will be used to develop a resource for IRG
members when addressing OHS and injury management issues2
BACKGROUND
HEALTH PROMOTION - OTTAWA CHARTER
 Build Healthy Public Policy
 WorkCover Industry Policy
Create Supportive Environments Change Workplace Culture
 Strengthen Community/Industry Action
 Develop Personal Skills
 Reorient Health Services
 Information, Training, Education, Research3
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Major Activity Types
ProgramsSafety audits/checks
 Funding safety activities
 Partnership projects
EventsConference
 Forum
NetworksUse of existing networks
 Development of new
PublicationsGuide
Website
Newspaper article
Poster
 OtherTraining Package
 Research
How these ‘products’ reach their target
audience is a crucial element of their
effectiveness.4
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WORKSHOP
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Break into groups of 3
Spend 5 minutes looking at examples provided
Spend 10 minutes identifying additional examples. Minimal details are
fine at this stage if you are happy to add your contact details and discuss
with me at a later date
Please direct further comments or questions to:
Pauline Kavanagh, IRG Senior Project Officer
Ph: 4321 5001
pauline.kavanagh@workcover.nsw.gov.au
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Attachment 4 to
IRG 4-5 Minutes of
13 April 2005
INSURANCE & SCHEME DESIGN
INDUSTRY REFERENCE GROUP REPORT
APRIL / MAY 2005
1.
VALUATION
NSW Minister for Commerce, John Della Bosca, recently announced another significant
improvement in the financial position of the NSW workers compensation scheme.
Every six months the WorkCover Scheme actuaries, PricewaterhouseCoopers, provide
the Government with a report on the Scheme’s performance. The valuation includes:
 an estimate of the Scheme’s liability
 funding ratio projections.
The latest independent valuation released in March 2005 shows that the Scheme’s
projected deficit has reduced by $698 million in six months due to a combination of
improved claims management and continued strong investment returns.
Independent actuary PricewaterhouseCoopers reported at 31 December 2004 that the
deficit was estimated to be $1,655m, a reduction of $1,274 million on the valuation 12months ago.
PricewaterhouseCoopers reports that the Scheme’s funding ratio has also improved
substantially, from 65 per cent two years ago to 83 per cent now.
$3,230
$3,500
$2,982
$3,000
$2,929
$2,353
Millions
$2,500
$1,655
$2,000
$1,500
$1,000
$500
$0
Dec 02
June 03
Dec 03
June 04
Dec-04
2.
REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL - CLAIMS AND POLICY MANAGEMENT
SERVICES
On 31 March 2005, WorkCover NSW released a request for proposal (RFP) for suitabilityqualified organisations to provide workers compensation claims and policy services in
NSW. The release of this RFP follows the release of the McKinsey report, Partnerships
for recovery: Caring for injured workers and restoring the financial stability to workers
compensation in NSW.
WorkCover is committed to improving Scheme performance, promoting competition for
claims and policy management services, allowing new claims and policy agents (agents)
to enter the market, and recognising the performance of existing insurers.
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WorkCover will work closely with employers, unions, industry associations and
professional advisers to ensure the dissemination of information about the new Scheme
arrangements. In addition, a series of public information sessions will be held in the lead
up to the implementation of the new arrangements.
The NSW Department of Commerce is managing the tender process on behalf of
WorkCover. The initial contract period for agents will be for three years with a renewal
option for a further three years.
Responses to the tender are due by 26 May with transition to the new Scheme
arrangements from August to December 2005.
Policy freeze
A freeze on employer movement of policies is required to ensure Scheme stability and will
take effect from 2 July 2005 - 29 June 2006. The period of the freeze has been set to
enable the majority of employers to exercise choice as to their policy provider while at the
same time providing a period of stability during the implementation of the new
arrangements.
3.
COMPLIANCE
WorkCover has recently successfully prosecuted a number of companies and individuals
for non-insurance and falsely claiming workers compensation payments.
The Director of Top Value Furniture has been found guilty of non-insurance in the Chief
Industrial Magistrates Court for breaches of section 155 of the Workers Compensation Act
1987 and ordered to pay over $50,000 including double the avoided premium, a fine and
WorkCover costs.
Similarly, the Director of Simons Waste Bins has been ordered to pay over $22,000 and
enter into a good behaviour bond for eighteen months.
In another case, a Sydney woman was convicted of fourteen charges under the Crimes
Act for altering her workers compensation claim medical certificates, ordered to pay more
than $6,000 and sentenced to a one-year good behaviour bond.
Anyone with information on workers compensation fraud should contact WorkCover’s
fraud hotline on 02 4321 5755 or visit our website www.workcover.nsw.gov.au
4.
INFORMATION ON TRUSTS
WorkCover has recently issued a fact sheet, Information on Trusts to provide information
for accountants, auditors and employers on when trust distributions should be taken into
account for the purpose of assessing an employer’s workers compensation premium.
Where a payment to a worker is made in lieu of wages (regardless of the terminology
used to describe that payment) then the payment is counted as remuneration for the
purposes of calculating workers compensation premiums. A worker is any person who
has entered into, or works under, a contract of service or a training contract with an
employer, whether by way of manual labour, clerical work or otherwise, and whether the
contract is expressed or implied, oral or written. Some categories of workers are also
deemed to be workers. Information on the definition of a worker is available in the Wages
Definition Manual (catalogue no 49.2).
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The fact sheet defines which trust distributions are counted as wages and gives examples
on how market rates for part-time, casual work or mixed duties are calculated.
Distributions to beneficiaries who are not workers of the trust are not counted as wages
and these individuals are not entitled to workers compensation in the event of an injury. A
distribution to a worker as beneficiary under a trust constitutes wages to the extent that:
 the distribution is remuneration for their work
 the distribution is a substitute, in whole or in part, for wages.
As advised in the March Insurance and Scheme Design IRG report, WorkCover has
recently implemented a moratorium on some workers compensation late payment fees
while WorkCover clarifies the distinction between employees and contractors. The
moratorium now also includes late payment fees associated with disputed trust
distributions to working beneficiaries. The moratorium will end on 30 June 2006.
For more information visit www.workcover.nsw.gov.au
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