Chairperson’s report
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It gives me great pleasure to report to the Hon Kevin Andrews MP, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, the Australian Parliament and the maritime industry on the activities of the Seafarers Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Authority (Seacare Authority) for the year ending 30 June 2004. This is my fifth annual report as Chairperson, having been appointed by the Minister in September 1999 and reappointed in September 2001 for a further three years.
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On a positive note the scheme recorded another year without a work related fatality. It is now nine years since there was a work related fatality in the maritime industry covered by the Occupational Health and Safety (Maritime Industry) Act 1993.
An outcome of our commitment to progressively adopt applicable National Occupational Health and
Safety Commission OHS standards resulted in the Occupational Health and Safety (Maritime Industry)
(National Standards) Regulations 2003 commencing on 31 December 2003. These regulations have had an immediate impact in heightening industry awareness about the risk of asbestos, particularly where it was thought not to exist, and as a consequence, has led to the implementation of more rigorous asbestos management plans.
Additionally, the Authority’s OHS Standards Task Force has made good progress in guiding the Authority towards adoption of an effective manual handling regulation and code of practice.
I am pleased to report that work has commenced to improve rehabilitation services to maritime employers and seafarers, with further Seacare specific training for rehabilitation providers due to come on stream in calendar year 2004. This initiative is aimed at improving rehabilitation and return to work performance in the Seacare scheme, which requires further attention. Notwithstanding some weaknesses in rehabilitation performance, the return to work rate and durable return to work rate both improved in 2003 – 04.
The Seacare scheme durable return to work rate exceeds the national average.
The difficulties experienced in the previous year regarding management of the Seafarers Safety Net Fund, which provides a safety net for seafarers for whom there is no extant employer against which to make a claim, settled considerably over the year. The Fund is making good progress towards reaching its reserve target of $550,000. The Authority will again be making efforts to obtain insurance for the Fund in the new financial year.
Not so positive is the scheme’s overall OHS and compensation costs performance. After reporting positive performance on injury/disease reduction and on premium trends in 2002 – 03, performance on these two headline performance measures deteriorated over 2003 – 04. On current trends, after the first two years of the ten year target period, the maritime industry is not tracking towards meeting the ten year injury reduction targets the Authority set in 2001– 02 – being a 40% reduction in the incidence of injury by
June 2012.
This less than satisfactory OHS performance has come at a time when increased activity in the offshore oil and gas sector is increasing potential OHS risks, requiring even greater vigilance on the part of stakeholders and regulators alike. The Authority and the industry need to vigorously increase their efforts to ensure that the ten year targets are met.
Workers’ compensation premium rates have increased considerably. Additionally, the total cost of workers’ compensation claims and the cost per claim increased, as did days lost per seafarer, over 2003 – 04. These are also areas requiring a positive response by the industry and the Authority.
We had high expectations of advancing the review of scheme legislation during 2003 – 04. The employers lodged a joint submission setting out their views for reform, which was welcomed by the Authority. Despite lodgment of the submission and work to consolidate and categorise reform proposals under consideration, progress in prioritising reform proposals for advice to the Minister has been modest over the year.
Nevertheless, in consultation with the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, the platform for making progress in 2004 – 05 has now been laid, and the legislative reform work will continue.
The Authority continues to place a high priority on its communications with the industry. The Authority’s cycle of four meetings were again held in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Canberra. Importantly industry briefings were held to coincide with the Sydney and Perth meetings, to enable as many industry participants as possible to directly communicate with the Authority and to exchange views on key policy and operational issues.
During the year the Authority maintained its efforts to improve Seacare News, the principal voice of the Authority within the maritime industry. In addition, the Authority commenced a much overdue upgrade of its website, with the assistance of Comcare, during the latter part of the year. While the project is not due for completion until late in calendar year 2004, I am sure it will bring great benefits to users.
I would once again like to record my appreciation to all Members and Deputy Members of the Authority who continue to demonstrate a strong commitment to making the maritime industry a safer place to work, as well as showing a compassionate approach to the treatment of seafarers who sustain an injury
or contract a work-related disease. I also wish to acknowledge the important role played by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) as the OHS Inspectorate and by the Australian Maritime Industry Compensation Agency (AMICA) as the Seacare scheme claims database manager, and the partner with Seacare in administering the Seafarers Safety Net Fund.
Finally I wish to record the appreciation of the Authority to the dedicated staff of the Seacare Management Group who support the Authority, ably assisted by the senior executives and other staff in Comcare. I am particularly grateful to Barry Leahy, CEO of Comcare, and his senior executives who represent the Seacare Authority in key national fora such as the Heads of Workers’ Compensation Authorities (HWCA) meetings.
I commend a study of this report to all persons interested in the Australian maritime industry.
Geoff Gronow
ED Chairperson
September 2004
