SafeWork's second biennial Building and Construction Symposium is being launched in Parramatta today, ahead of seven regional roadshow events in September and October.
The symposium brings together industry and government representatives to collaborate on major health and safety concerns impacting the NSW construction sector.
A major focus will be the more than 300 construction workers in NSW that have been killed falling from heights since 2019, with SafeWork NSW issuing one million dollars in fines relating to management of workers at height during the 2023/24 financial year.
Falls from heights is a key priority for SafeWork NSW, with the regulator launching a number of compliance campaigns to identify and stop dangerous behaviours as part of the SafeWork NSW Building and Construction Work Health and Safety Blueprint 2023-2026.
Panel sessions will also examine how to ensure safety during the current housing and infrastructure boom with a skills shortage, ways for the industry to empower and protect at-risk workers, mental health issues affecting workers and new research into women in construction.
SafeWork will be providing an overview of the new industrial manslaughter offence, giving prosecutors the ability to hold a business or individual responsible for the death of a person due to gross negligence in the workplace.
The symposium will travel to Newcastle, Port Macquarie and Ballina in September, as well as Merimbula, Wollongong, Albury and Dubbo in October.
