Worksafe chief tells risk managers
Leading companies 'disregard occupational health and safety'
Australia's leading companies pay scant regard to workplace health and safety, Worksafe Australia's chief executive, Dr Ted Emmett, has claimed.
"With one notable exception, occupational health and safety hardly rates a mention in the annual reports of the top ten companies," he told a Melbourne risk management conference.
Organised by ARIMA (Association of Risk and Insurance Managers of Australasia), the conference had the theme, Self-regulation and future directions.
"In fact, the subject is not mentioned at all by seven of them. It gets a passing reference in two. And only one company actually gives it some prominence.
"This would appear to be a sad indictment of Australia's attitude towards what should be a number one priority on any major enterprise's agenda."
Dr Emmett said that annual reports generally reflected a company's philosophy and were now considered much more than simply a mandatory presentation of balance sheets: they were a means of providing information to shareholders.
"In other words, if annual reports fail to make any reference to occupational health and safety (OHS), I think we can safely assume that the companies concerned pay scant regard to it," he said.
"Apart from the two companies that make a passing reference to it, the one exception is the Western Mining Corporation which places health and safety on page one of the year's highlights.
"This would seem to indicate that OHS is a integral part of Western Mining's operations. They obviously recognise that good occupational health and safety means good business.
Dr Emmett praised the company's frank, upfront assessment of its OHS performance, which included three deaths and reference to a worse lost-time injury record than the previous year.
"I look forward to the day when all Australian companies will take a similar approach.
"I strongly urge them to take a leaf out of Western Mining's book and pay attention to the wellbeing of employees rather than concentrating on the bottom line.
"Whereas old style corporate thinking would have seen this as negative, this bold move by Western Mining sets an example to Australian industry by showing an effective way to promote OHS.
"Any company that does not focus on workplace health and safety is, in my opinion, out of touch with modern community expectations.
"Many would seem to be unaware of the fact that OHS has a major impact on financial returns. Good OHS practices means that companies are more competitive, face fewer workers' compensation claims, and are better able to take part in Australia's export drive.
"However, the emphasis on the bottom line should never preclude companies from adopting a positive approach to workplace health and safety to the exclusion of their employees' welfare.
"Otherwise they would be open to criticism as, in the words of Oscar Wilde, people who know the price of everything and the value of nothing."
Issued: November 14 1995
Page last updated: 06/07/2008