Workplace Health and Safety has always been union business. In Airlines, with the shocking accident experienced by one of our members at Qantas earlier this year, and reports from members at Virgin in recent months about staff being required to work alone in unsafe conditions, we thought it was important to provide a reminder of your rights regarding workplace health and safety.

This information has been taken directly from the horse’s mouth – which in our case is the WHS regulator SafeWork NSW. 

You can find this information on their website here:

“Your basic rights include:

  • the right to be shown how to work safely
  • the right to appropriate safety equipment
  • the right to speak up about work conditions
  • the right to say no to unsafe work
  • the right to be consulted about safety in the workplace
  • the right to workers compensation
  • the right to a fair and just workplace
  • the right to fair pay and conditions.

You also have specific health and safety obligations and responsibilities including:

  • taking reasonable care of yourself
  • not doing anything that would affect the health and safety of others at work
  • following any reasonable health and safety instructions from your employer

It is important that you:

  • ask if you are not sure how to safely perform the work
  • follow instructions and work safely
  • report unsafe and unhealthy situations and injuries to your immediate supervisor.”

A massive thanks to the members who have reached out to us about these issues – your work is making your workplace safer for yourself and your colleagues, so we can’t thank you enough for bringing this issue to our attention.

Members should always reach out to their workplace delegates or organiser to flag workplace health and safety issues as soon as possible.