Harmonisation of OHS Laws
The Federal Government is currently conducting a review of the States OHS legislation as part of an attempt to ‘harmonise' all OHS legislation nationally.
The Review Panel will report on a number of key areas, including duty of care and penalties to the Minister by the end of October 2008. A more detailed report including recommendations is due by January 2009.
Unions, including the RTBU and peak union councils have been consulted and made detailed submissions to the Review Panel. The main concern of all unions is to ensure any harmonisation of OHS laws will strengthen workers' rights and to maintain the active participation of union members indentifying and resolving safety issues in the workplace.
Bus and Tram Division Force STA to Fix Brakes on Volvo Articulated Buses
After months of raising issues relating to the erratic braking systems on Volvo articulated buses which become a safety issue for drivers, passengers and the travelling public the problem, a fault in the breaking software, has been fixed on all 80 buses.
STA and Volvo initially denied there was a problem beyond ‘operator error'. Despite STA's public position they decided to replace the software.
PPP Project Car Markers
RailCorp has proposed to standardise the stopping position for suburban trains by moving the car marker from the fence at the end of the platform to a stand alone post. The driver is now required to stop the train with his body in line with marker.
As the PPP train is longer than most trains in the fleet and many platforms RailCorp has proposed to move the car marker location on short platforms. This will mean the drivers cab will need to be off the platform in order to allow the guard access to the platform to assist passengers in wheelchairs. To ensure standardisation all trains will need to stop in accordance with the new practice.
The RTBU has raised a number of safety concerns for Train Crew including now having to stop precisely at the car marker for the safety of the guard. RTBU Train Crew representatives have strongly opposed this proposal as creating unnecessary safety risks to Train Crew.
Rail Safety Bill 2007
Changes to the Rail Safety Act have been proposed by ITSRR. The process is well under way with a number of documents distributed by ITSRR containing a review of comments previously submitted by relevant industry parties and whether or not they have been included.
The RTBU has reviewed the document and provided further input into the process.
