Unconfirmed

/ INDUSTRIAL AND CONSUMER MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY REFERENCE GROUPS
MEETING NOTES

DATEWednesday 13 April 2005

TIME0930 - 1230

LOCATIONMeeting Room 1-2, Level 10,

Building C, CentennialPlazaBuilding

300 Elizabeth (cnr Fovaux St, near Central railway station)

Sydney NSW 2000

PRESENT

John Lynch / J. Lynch Engineering Pty Ltd
Tricia Kemp / Australian Industry Group
Alan Mansfield / AMWU
Brett Ellwood / CFMEU (Forestry & Furnishing)
Tim Abrams / Printing and Allied Trades Employers Association
Ian MacCowan / Construction and Mining Equipment Industry Group
Glenn McCarthy / OHS Division Rep, WorkCover
Patrick Dunn / ICA Representative
Heather Scott / Insurance Division Representative, WorkCover
Susanne Hollis / WorkCover, Presenter
John Robb / Convenor, WorkCover
Vicki Cosgrove / Minutes, WorkCover

APOLOGIES

Ken McKell / Australian Meat Industry Council
Ken Stenner / Printing and Allied Trades Employers Association
Andrew Papandreas / AIG / SimsMetal
Darryl Woodhouse / AIG / SimsMetal
Ken Hocking / Timber Trade Industrial Association
Murray Cameron / ABL / Metalcorp Recyclers
Kevin Anderson / ABL / Norske-Skög Paper Mills (Aust) Ltd, Albury
Dave Henry / AMWU
Allan Tomkins / CGU ICA Rep
Khayum Muhammad / Baking Industry Association
George Vorobieff / 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.

2MINUTES 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 EllwoodSeconded: John Lynch

2.1Business 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 one-day 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:

  • Patricia Kemp
  • Dave Henry

John Lynch also expressed an interest in attending if a ‘back up’ person was required

5.WORKPLAN ACTIVITIES

5.1Contractor/On-Hire Labour Project

  • Working Group has still not met
  • 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 longer-term 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:
  • identify shared OHS responsibilities between Labour-Hire and employers.
  • encourage discussion between labour supplier and labour user to highlight the responsibilities of each and the overlapping responsibilities (eg. training and supervision).
  • assist in identifying what safe work systems are needed
  • assist in identifying the right person for the job
  • highlight potential for Labour-Hire companies to factor the cost of OHS into quotes for the supply of labour.
  • has the potential to be used by other industries.

5.2.1Manual 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.

Baking industry association

  • has received a WorkCover assist grant to develop a Risk Management document for the industry.
  • A consultant has been engaged and has visited retail and wholesale outlets to define hazards and develop a hierarchy of risks and controls.
  • Visits have been done in consultation with the industry through consultation meetings and a website forum.
  • The project will produce a web-based resource for the industry with relevant examples of risk management.
  • ‘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

PATEAis developing an OHS booklet for small to medium businesses.

6.INDUSTRY REPORTS – refer BIA and PATEA information in Item 5.

7.WORKCOVER FEEDBACK

7.1OHS 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.

7.2Insurance Division

Heather Scott spoke to the ID Report at Attachment 4.

  1. OTHER BUSINESS
  2. 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 ( ), under ‘Highlights’, click on ‘New Workers Compensation Statistical Bulletin 2002/2003’.

8.2Workplace 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.

8.3NOHSC 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.

  1. NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, 18 May 2005

John Robb

Convenor, Ph:02 4321 5103, Mob: 0421 611 164,Fax: 02 9287 5103, Email:

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 / Rojen Roofing
BlueScope Steel Limited
Police Association of NSW
Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children
West Wallsend Colliery
Best solution to a workplace manual handling hazard / Duren Transport
Concord Repatriation GeneralHospital
Northern Rivers Area Health Service
OneSteel Market Mills
Zoological Parks Board of New South Wales
Best Workplace health and safety management program / Mission Australia
Catholic Schools Office
SewerFix Pumping Stations Program
Best training program (two awards) / 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
Best workplace health and safety initiative in small business / All Type Plastics
Workplace Safety Champion – medium/ large businesses / Stephen Winner – RailCorp
Duncan Hislop – OneSteel Market Mills
Scott O’Connor – OneSteel Market Mills
Alan Hammoud – RailCorp
Premium Discount Scheme: Outstanding Achievement - Small / medium employer / Continental Ace Pty Ltd
Hardi Nursing Home Management Pty Ltd (Wyoming Nursing Home)
Premium Discount Scheme: Outstanding Achievement - Large employer / Weyerhaeuser Australia Pty Ltd
Baptist Community Services – NSW & ACT

Presentation Main Points

  • 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:

Comments

  • Information about the 2005 awards will be available on WorkCover’s website from April 2005.
  • There are approximately 386,000 employers in the WorkCover Scheme
  • The award is a solid aluminium trophy on a black base. All winners and finalists receive a Certificate.
  • 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.
  • 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.

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.

Attachment 3 to

IRG 4-5 Minutes of

13 April 2005

WORKSHOP:
DEVELOPING A LIST OF OPTIONSFORBUILDING 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 Workshop
  • IRG Branch currently developing a list of 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 today
  • Seeking 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 issues
2
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, Research
3
Major Activity Types
Programs
  • Safety audits/checks
  • Funding safety activities
  • Partnership projects
Events
  • Conference
  • Forum
Networks
  • Use of existing networks
  • Development of new
/ Publications
  • Guide
  • Website
  • Newspaper article
  • Poster
  • Other
  • Training Package
  • Research
How these ‘products’ reach their target audience is a crucial element of their effectiveness.
4
WORKSHOP
  • 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

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 12-months 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.


2.REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL - CLAIMS AND POLICY MANAGEMENT SERVICES

On 31 March 2005, WorkCover NSW released a request for proposal (RFP) for suitability-qualified 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.