THE QUEENSLAND State Government has announced it will act to remove automatic right of entry to worksites for permit holders, with changes to Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) permit holder laws.
Legislation introduced to Parliament on 28 November will require WHS permit holders to provide at least 24 hours’ notice to exercise their right of entry to a workplace.
The Government said reintroducing the requirement to provide notice ensures management, and their safety specialists, are available on site when entry permit holders arrive to discuss any safety concerns.
The legislative moves came following concerns raised by industry representatives about protecting the privacy of individuals in workplaces, the Government said.
The legislative changes drew criticism from the Australian Maritime Officers Union (AMOU), which called the new laws a fatigue risk for the maritime industry.
“Having to give 24 hours’ notice to enter a workplace to check logbooks and fatigue records is going to be too late for our members after they have died in the car on the way home from that shift because they were fatigued,” said AMOU industrial officer Tracey Ellis.
“Legislation that takes the onus for having a safe workplace away from the employer and puts it onto individual employees is disgusting, and it’s going to kill someone.”
The AMOU accused the Government of hiding the changes amongst other “abhorrent legislation” in the bill entitled “Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games Arrangements and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024”.
The Government said the amendments provide consistency with the requirements of the Commonwealth Fair Work Act 2009, which requires permit holders give at least 24 hours’ notice before exercising an entry right.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Industrial Relations, Jarrod Bleijie said the laws will stop the CFMEU using safety as an industrial weapon.
“The CFMEU’s cultural practice of bullying and intimidation that we see on Queensland worksites against workers, contractors, employers and the independent public servants who protect workers safety must end,” Mr Bleijie said.
“Reintroducing the requirement to provide at least 24 hours’ notice will provide a circuit breaker to recent tensions we’ve observed regarding entry and will provide employers with sufficient time to respond to WHS entry permit holders on issues that they may raise.”
Recent changes introduced by the Electrical Safety and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024 to permit health and safety representatives and WHS entry permit holders to take photos, videos, measurements, and conduct tests at the workplace when undertaking their roles will no longer proceed, the Government confirmed.
Following the changes, understood to have taken effect immediately, the Queensland Government reported it will turn its focus on the work health and safety framework to address gaps in the legislation around work-related violence and aggression.
“This will mean incidents of work-related violence and aggression, including physical and sexual assault, will come to the attention of the WHS Regulator, and that more serious events can be triaged for an inspectorate response,” the state Government said.
