Health & Safety

Occupational Health and Safety is a major concern for all Construction and General Division members. A recent survey of members placed OH&S alongside wages and tenure of employment as the three most important priorities for the CFMEU.

The National Occupational Health and Safety Commission (NOHSC) released figures at the end of 1999 showing that an average of 444 Australian workers were fatally injured each year and another 2300 died as a direct result of exposure to hazardous substances at work. When the figures for permanent disability and temporary serious injuries are added, the figure rises to an horrific 134,000.

The cost to the economy exceeds $20 billion per annum. This is greater than the total revenue generated by mining exports. This figure of course does not take into account the trauma and personal suffering of the victims and their families.

The CFMEU recognises these problems and allocates a large part of its resources to OH&S.

There is a national OH&S committee chaired by Assistant Secretary Lindsay Fraser that meets four times per year to discuss accidents and incidents and to discuss the results of any current studies on OH&S problems here and overseas. This information is then used in campaigns and safety alerts to help protect our members.

By clicking on to the headings below you can gain access to a list of CFMEU OH&S Officers, current alerts, OH&S resources and useful links.

CFMEU State Branch OH&S Officers
- State by state contact number
OH&S Checklist

Use this to keep track of what needs to be done and what has been done.

Safety Alerts

OH&S Resources

A list of some useful publications

Worksafe

The National Occupational Health & Safety Commission has lots of useful links including to state WorkCover organisations.

Operation Safe Site

USA construction industry safety information and regulations.

OSHWEB

An international index of health and safety resources.

Chemwatch

Material safety data sheets

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United we bargain - Divided we beg.
	Contact the National Office, Construction Division at: Level 12, 276 Pitt Street, Sydney, NSW 2000 Ph: 02 8524 5800 Fax: 02 8524 5801 Email: queries@fed.cfmeu.asn.au Postal address: PO Box Q235, Queen Victoria Building Post Office, Sydney NSW 1230.