An Apprentice and Trainee Safety Committee has been set up by the South Australian Government with apprenticeship safety a key area of focus for 2024. Source: Timberbiz
The Department for Education, in partnership with the Skills Commissioner spoke to more than 1700 employers to educate them on their responsibilities in relation to their apprentices and trainees, an increase of 3% on the previous year.
They also investigated 36 employers for non-compliance with their obligations, an increase of 29 from the previous year and imposed 18 sanctions upon non-compliant employers, an increase of 11 from the previous year.
The main types of non-compliances investigated in 2023 include:
- Failures to provide adequate and/or appropriate supervision, including issues associated with bullying and harassment.
- Failures to release apprentices for training or to adequately progress them in their training, including not letting them attend off-job training and/or not providing on-job requirements.
- Failure to provide full scope of work to enable the apprentice to achieve competency across all aspects of the trade or vocation, including issues with licensing.
The most common regulatory response is applying conditions to an employer’s registration.
Common conditions include requirements for the employer to provide evidence of appropriate supervision and/or training, to limit employers from taking on new apprentices or hosting apprentices without a risk assessment by the department first, and ensuring the apprentice understands their rights and obligations and where to seek assistance if required.
Additional sanctions have included prohibiting an employer from employing apprentices and cancelling their registration, suspending an employer’s registration, sometimes until further notice or specific compliance issues are addressed, and issuing compliance notices requiring employers to take specific actions to correct non-compliances.
South Australia skills commissioner Cameron Baker will chair the new committee, which will be made up of organisations that have responsibilities for oversight of apprentice and trainee training, safety and wellbeing, including SafeWork SA.
The committee will work to ensure additional quality on-job training and safe work-place initiatives for the state’s over 28,000 apprentices and trainees, and they will begin work in March.
It will also include representatives of those who will be impacted by the work providing an avenue for direct guidance from apprentices and trainees.
The Apprentice of the Year, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Student of the Year and Trainee of the Year will be amongst those joining the committee.
Education, Training and Skills Minister Blair Boyer said workplace issues were contributing to apprentices and trainees dropping out of their courses.
“By making workplaces safer for all workers, we will see more South Australians take on a trade and more apprentices finish their course and fill skills shortages in areas such as construction,” he said.
“Our government has zero tolerance for the very small number of employers who do the wrong thing, and we take all action necessary to ensure all workplaces are safe for apprentices and trainees.
“Not only are we doing more to educate employers and taking action when employers do the wrong thing, but the new apprenticeship safety committee will provide valuable advice to the government on what more we can do to ensure every worker gets home safely.”
South Australian skills commissioner Cameron Baker said the South Australian Skills Commission is committed to supporting safe workplace initiatives, especially as many apprentices and trainees are aged between 16 and 21 and inexperienced in the world of work.
“Helping them navigate workplaces for the first time and ensuring they are provided with the on-job training they signed up for, and their safety, both physical and psycho-logical, are key priorities for me and the team at the Skills Commission,” he said.
“The formation of the Apprentice and Trainee Training and Safety Committee is an important step in protecting some of the state’s most vulnerable workers.
“We are pleased to take the lead in this important work to develop lasting changes and ensure we are best placed as a state to meet the skills needs of the future.”
