New Model Occupational Safety and Health Regulations and priority codes of practice released for public comment
Safe Work Australia has released the public comment package which is available from their website.

The SSTUWA will be making a submission through the AEU and SSTUWA but individuals are invited to make  comment.

Advice on making a submission will be place on the website in February. The Public Comment Period is open until April 4th 2011.

There are still many areas of concern for workers regarding the package such as the absence of Regulations on psychosocial hazards and risk assessment on hazards in general .

All submissions must be accompanied by the Public Comment Submission Cover Sheet.

You can use the following link for easy access -

http://safeworkaustralia.gov.au/Legislation/PublicComment/Pages/PublicComment.aspx

In July 2008, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) formally committed to harmonising the occupational health and safety laws in Australia by signing the Intergovernmental Agreement for Regulatory and Operational Reform in Occupational Health and Safety (IGA).

The IGA outlines the commitment of all states and territories and the Commonwealth to work together to develop and implement model work health and safety laws including a Model Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act, model WHS Regulations and model Codes of Practice. Each government is committed to adopting the model work health and safety laws within their jurisdictions by December 2011.

The model WHS Act is the result of a comprehensive national review into work health and safety laws across Australia, which involved substantial public consultation. The first draft of the model WHS Act was based on the decisions of the Workplace Relations Ministers' Council (WRMC) in relation to the national review findings. Workplace Relations Ministers' Council endorsed the model WHS Act on 11 December 2009.

The draft model WHS Regulations and model Codes of Practice are based on the policy decisions made by Safe Work Australia Members in accordance with the guidelines specified in the IGA. Safe Work Australia is comprised of Commonwealth, state and territory governments, employer and employee representatives.