The NSW Government plan to maintain the onus on employers to prove they provide safe workplaces, and the right for third parties to prosecute those who don’t is being supported by the AMWU.

“Proposed national workplace safety laws should ensure the highest standards and protections are provided to all workers,” said AMWU National Secretary, Dave Oliver.

Unions have been campaigning to ensure that workers do not lose out, ever since the first moves were made towards harmonised national OHS laws more than two years ago.

The AMWU maintains that the proposed national occupational health and safety system should include a right for third party prosecutions over serious accidents and an onus on employers to prove they provide a safe workplace.

ACTU Secretary, Jeff Lawrence also argued the case this week.

“Unions have always maintained it was a major oversight for the proposed national laws not to include these rights from the outset,” Mr Lawrence said.

“The proposed national workplace safety laws should now be reviewed to lift standards and protections for all Australian workers,” he said.

“The NSW laws contain these two elements and unions are pleased to see the Keneally Government is determined to maintain them. The announcement by the NSW Premier opens the door for a rethink about the uniform OHS system for all states and territories.”

The AMWU and other unions have been campaigning for the harmonisation of the various state and territory systems to ensure that workplace standards were lifted to world’s best practice.