Congratulations to Unions NSW for a wonderful two day conference on workplace health and safety and workers compensation issues.
Fair, safe, healthy and inclusive workplaces are at the heart of what we do at the IEU and this conference provided valuable information on the current WHS legislative framework and on the role of NSW government agencies such as WorkSafe, the Centre for WHS, WIRO and SIRA. The Workers Health Centre is also a vital resource for union members.
It was especially worthwhile to hear practical WHS strategies from other unions and to be able to engage in cross union discussions about supporting members to deal with health, safety and workers compensation issues in their workplaces.
The conference also hosted the launch of the Unions NSW submission to a review of the Workers Compensation system in NSW. The IEU financially contributed to the research for this submission.
The conference made clear that an elected Health and Safety Rep (HSR) or WHS committee is a vital part of any workplace, and that places of education are no exception.
With the increase in workloads over recent years and the risk of workplace induced stress and psychological injury on the increase, an HSR or WHS committee are critical to ensure that workers are safe. Contact your Union for assistance in establishing your WHS committee or HSR.