The ACT's work safety laws and regulator are to be placed under the microscope in the first broad, independent review since the current legislation was adopted in 2011.
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Workplace Safety Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith and Regulatory Services Minister Gordon Ramsay announced the review on Thursday, revealing it would run until September and consider four key points.
It will focus on the effectiveness of WorkSafe ACT's approach to safety compliance and enforcement, as well as the regulator's organisational structure, giving special consideration to its independence following the 2015 merger into Access Canberra.
The review will also probe WorkSafe's governance structure and how the territory collects, uses and shares data on workplace safety.
Mr Ramsay and Ms Stephen-Smith said ensuring workers got home safely each day was an ongoing priority for the ACT government.
"We are committed to continual improvement to ensure the highest possible standards," Mr Ramsay said.
Dr Claire Noone, who recently chaired a similar analysis in Victoria, is in charge of the review and will report to the ministers in September.
The announcement of the review comes after a SafeWork report published in October last year showed Canberra was the most dangerous place in Australia to be a construction worker, and the second most dangerous across all industries.
The report showed there were 23.8 claims for serious injury and disease per 1000 construction workers in 2015-16, well above the national average of 16 claims.
UnionsACT secretary Alex White welcomed the review and said it was long overdue.
He said WorkSafe ACT had a framework ill-suited to the challenge of enforcing workplace safety laws, with the regulator unwilling to enforce penalties and undertake prosecutions since it became a business unit within Access Canberra.
Mr White said this made breaking the law a viable economic decision for businesses that "roll the dice".
"[It is] little wonder that many dodgy employers think they can flout safety laws, when WorkSafe prioritises education programs and Twitter updates over enforcement," he said.
“We need WorkSafe ACT focused on enforcing workplace safety laws, and holding unscrupulous, unsafe employers to account.
“It is essential that WorkSafe be demerged from Access Canberra and established as a stand-alone, independent agency that proactively enforces work safety laws."
WorkSafe ACT has been contacted for comment.
While it has long been criticised by UnionsACT for a perceived lack of prosecutions, WorkSafe ACT is in the midst of the largest industrial prosecution in the territory's history.
Nine charges, including a criminal count of manslaughter, have been laid after the death of Herman Holtz, 62, in a 2016 incident involving a mobile crane on the University of Canberra Hospital construction site in Bruce.
International construction giant Multiplex Constructions and Canberra company RAR Cranes are facing charges, along with workers and company bosses. The case is scheduled to return to court in July.
Correction: An earlier version of this story said there were 23.8 claims for serious injury and disease per 100 construction workers in the ACT in 2015-16. It should have said per 1000 construction workers.
