This year, countless members have come through the doors of the WHS Department here at TWU NSW, undertaking training as Delegates and Health & Safety Representatives (HSRs).
Just last week, we welcomed another class for SafeWork HSR Training, made up of members representing sectors across the industry. With negotiations underway at many of these transport companies, these workers will be even more empowered to make their workplace standards better.
Where PCBUs fail to uphold their commitments under the act, these HSRs have been willing to issue Provisional Improvement Notices (PINs) to ensure compliance.
In recent years, TWU HSRs have come into their own at the annual SafeWork HSR Conference, where the Transport Workers’ Union always brings the largest contingent without fail. As I write to you, we look towards the next HSR Conference at the end of Spring, where the TWU presence will be overwhelming once again. As before, myself, Education & WHS Official Emily Armstrong, and many of you will be playing an active role in that day’s events. We look forward to sharing more once the conference concludes.
While 2026 is going down as a year with a great deal achieved, it’s also a year which has highlighted the grave neglect of some of our industry’s worst actors. At last month’s Conference, on the Women & WHS panel, I was joined by TWU member and Cleanaway worker Hine, whose story some of you may remember from a few months ago. Hine is a mother of seven, who was injured on the job while working for Cleanaway. She received no assistance from her employer at the time, ultimately lost most of her vision, and after spending weeks in the hospital now she has to navigate life with a new and permanent disability through no fault of her own.
This is just one incident in Cleanaway’s wretched record on worker safety. It has become clear that if a worker is injured – or dies – on Cleanaway’s watch, that they appear more interested in deflecting and moving on than actually making things safer for the people that work for them. They did not even notify the regulator of Hine’s incident.
Members, this is abhorrent, and it has to change. That’s why the TWU NSW/QLD/VIC/TAS (Interim Governance) Branch recently submitted a report to Comcare seeking prosecution of Cleanaway, for multiple contraventions of the WHS Act.
In the aviation sector, Swissport have continued to prove every prediction about industry fragmentation true. Swissport were issued with an Improvement Notice from the regulator, SafeWork, off the back of the TWU notifying the regulator with a dossier of WHS contraventions against Swissport – they were issued with multiple notices as a result, one being a failure to provide appropriate PPE.
It’s important that we fight for safety everywhere, in every yard, and continue to hold the worst employers accountable to raise the standards of safety everywhere. Failures of one, if allowed to continue, create permission structures that the rest of the industry end up emulating. The race to the bottom is in safety, as well. By standing up and fighting back, we create safer workplaces, and transport workers get home safely.
Members, this year isn’t over yet. There’s much to look forward to in the final few months of this year, and many victories have already been won. However, it’s also important that we stay vigilant, and always watch each other’s backs. With new HSRs starting every day, we can chip away at the worst standards and begin enforcing the best.
Thanks members, and stay safe.
Marija Marsic • Assistant State Secretary