Australia: WorkChoices Law Brings ‘Undeniable’ Damage to Workplace Safety

Worker safety institutes in Australia have almost unanimously said the advent of Prime Minister John Howard’s WorkChoices law will ultimately be detrimental to workplace safety. Now comes wisdom from another organisation, the Victorian Safety Institute of Australia.

The institute says the government’s labour reforms, which dramatically changed union rights and employment rights, will pose the biggest threat to workplace safety since asbestos.

Speaking prior to a Safety in Action conference held recently in Melbourne, the Victorian Safety Institute’s vice president, Kevin Jones said: “WorkChoices is opening a Pandora’s box of new health problems stemming from stress and high workloads. It’s the greatest threat to workers’ health since asbestos, because it harms people from all walks of life in such an insidious way – millions of Australians will suffer its potentially devastating effects.”