Don’t risk 2nd rate safety!

A healthy and safe workplace is a right that we can’t take for granted. The shocking truth is that:

• Almost 500,000 work-related accidents each year.
• Up to 7,000 Australians die annually from work-related disease. That is 4 times the annual road toll.
• Cost to the Australian economy is a staggering $57 billion.

At present there are 9 different OHS Laws operating in Australia. All governments want to replace these with a model OHS law. This new Model Law is due to be completed by the end of 2009. To do this, the Government appointed a Panel to make recommendations about the Model Law. Its final report was released in February.

Instead of raising the Federal standards to the highest levels from each State's existing laws, the Report’s recommendations, if adopted, could strike down up to 30 years of progress.

Unions are very concerned that if the governments accept all the recommendations – ALL Australian workers will be worse off.

With the States and Territories still negotiating with the Commonwealth over the new Model Law, we need your help to make sure we get the best model OHS law.

We need thousands of signatures to show the government we're serious about having a strong model OHS law to make our workplaces more safe and healthy.