It is unfortunate that in the attempt to do something (direct action, anyone?) about climate change, this government has administered a program that has been a victim of cowboy installers, and its own impatience to do some good. However, while much of what is alleged by the opposition is not proven about the scheme, there is no overlooking 4 bodies.

The law, I believe it says, is that the safety of a worker is a shared responsibility between the worker and his employer. In the case of these deaths, it looks to have been shared between younger, uneducated workers in conjunction with their irresponsible employers who were participating in an industry expanding rapidly, and too often new to the business of insulation installation.

The Minister for the Environment, and his Department, has apparently taken a risk assessment on board too slowly, and the modifications to the controls applied to the companies in the program have not been heeded, or failed, to achieve the desired result. It is very possible that personnel within the Department should be reprimanded, and if so perhaps the Minister should pay with his job. I think Peter Garrett is a great man, and a knowledgeable and capable manger of things, and he will be back if he goes for now.

This reminds me of another conversation I was having with a business partner about the close out of corrective actions from audits he has performed recently. There are apparently dozens of them laying there, identified, rated for risk, assigned . . . and forgotten. Any number of these could contribute to a serious incident. It is no good to close out an investigation, audit or inspection and identify the things you should do, but then not hold yourself to completing them.