The Western Australian Liberal Government of Colin Barnett is opposing new standards of  OHS laws, which would bring Australia workers under one set of laws.

The WA government is particularly opposed to health and safety reps having the power to order the cessation of unsafe work and unions having a right of entry to investigate health and safety hazards.

AMWU WA Secretary, Steve McCartney, said that the government was beholden to the interests of the business community.

“In WA, employers refuse unions access to workplaces to investigate suspected breaches – a prime example of this was the Apache explosion on Varanus Island last year where the AMWU was prevented from going there to determine what happened.

“There are HSRs on major jobs who have not been trained and worst of all, there is a ‘blacklist’ run by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry that keeps records on workers who raise safety issues.

While recognizing that the national system still needs improvement, Mr McCartney said one set of laws, at the highest standard, was the way to go.

“We do not accept the position of the government that WA is a special case and we will do everything we can to ensure that WA is part of a decent national system.”