Andy Alcock on ABC TV 4 CORNERS PROGRAM “WHO KILLED MR WARD?”
Congratulations to 4 Corners for screening this tragic story about Ian Ward.
I believe that the answer to the question Who killed Mr Ward” involves a number of people.
The prison officers who drove Ian Ward were definitely guilty of manslaughter. Most people with a modicum of commonsense and compassion know that when people are travelling in unsuitable vehicles like the one in the story at such high temperatures, there need to be many stops to ensure that everyone can have a drink and attend to their toiletting.
There should also have been arrangements to carry extra water so that the defendant and the officers had enough for drinking and to moisten towels to keep themselves cool.
GSL (Global Solutions), the UK correction company should face charges of criminal negligence for not having adequate procedures in place to ensure that the prisoner arrived at the destination safely and with his health in good shape.
GSL prides itself on the efficient administration of prisons and the humane treatment of prisoners in several countries.
Its Australian management certainly did not live up to the PR. The company should be given a hefty fine for its criminal negligence and the management person who allowed this trip to proceed without proper safeguards being taken should face prison.
WA Correctional Services should also face penalties because they let a subcontractor undertake a task without checking to see that adequate safeguards were in place to do the job properly.
In an indirect sense, politicians in state and federal parliaments in Australia are also guilty. In this land, where there are wide ranges of extreme temperatures, only one state (NSW) has an approved code of practice for working in heat.
If each state had such a code, then the various agencies that are involved with working in extremely hot conditions, then those responsible for the safe movement of Ian Ward would have had a stronger legal responsibility to follow such a code.
The only reason most states do not have such codes is because many employers don’t want them.
I
t is sadly ironic that the Rudd/Gillard leadership could lead to a watering down of our OHS&W laws.
Recently, there has been a review of these laws in Australia and instead of opting for best practice laws, the Australian government is accepting the lowest common denominator approach.
Australia is a very poor performer in OHS&W because our leaders do not give it sufficient priority.
This tragic event that has robbed our indigenous people of a great community leader should also make us, as a nation, recall the findings of Elliott Johnston in his Black Deaths in Custody findings.
What he argued was that many Aborigines are imprisoned for very minor offences and if they weren’t arrested in the first place, many of these people would still be alive today.
Sadly, most of his reccomendations have not been implemented.
Many white Australians who are prominent community members also get arrested for drinking offences. One has to ask if they would have been put in such a position?
I suspect the answer is no. We not only have to look at the deficiencies in our OHS&W systems, but we still need to do much more about the lack of fairness in our community when it comes to dealing with our Aboriginal people.
I would recommend that all Australians support the ACTU campaign “Reject 2nd Rate Safety Laws” and the reconciliation movement to ensure safer and healthier working conditions for our workers and greater fairness for our indigenous people.
http://www.actu.asn.au/HealthSafety/Campaigns/DontRiskSecondRateSafety/default.aspx
Devils in the FWB details
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