Awareness of OHS rights and responsibilities : an evaluation of a trade union training campaign

In 2003, a survey of over 1,500 members of the Finance Sector Union Commonwealth Bank Officers' Section (FSU: CBOS) working in the Commonwealth Bank in NSW (Australia) was undertaken to gauge members' awareness of their rights and responsibilities under occupational health and safety (OHS) legislation. The survey also investigated members' OHS experiences and preferences regarding employee involvement and consultation. In 2004, a second evaluation survey of the same issues was conducted with over 1,000 respondents. The purpose was to identify any improvement in OHS awareness and experiences following the trade union's education campaign. This paper reports the survey findings, identifying similarities and differences between the two surveys including consideration of variations by workplace size and workplace type. A small improvement in OHS awareness was found, but there was little change in members' OHS experiences or participation in decision-making. We discuss these findings with references to literature concerning OHS education and training. Unfortunately, it seems that effective OHS education and training requires greater resources than the trade union can access, notwithstanding collaboration and support received from WorkCover (the government agency) and the Labor Council of NSW (the peak union body). The Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 (NSW) envisages OHS to be an employment relations area that is jointly regulated by employers, employees and trade unions. However, the ability of employees to participate in the regulation of OHS may be limited if employees lack expertise. Our survey findings show that much greater investment in training and education is required to meet the expectations of the legislation.