Hospitality sector urged to attend new OH&S seminars

A total of 21 free seminars will be conducted throughout June in various parts of the state including Sydney, Melbourne, Parramatta, Thirroul, Newcastle, Coffs Harbour, Albury, Wagga Wagga, Port Macquarie, Armidale, Bathurst, Parkes, Dubbo, Orange, Broken Hill, East Maitland, Katoomba and Tamworth.

Hoteliers, their staff and accommodation providers are being urged to attend.

"The new legislation came into force on 1 January 2012," AHA (NSW) CEO Paul Nicolaou said.

"It has broadened the scope of health and safety obligations and has changed some of the key components of compliance, for example the consultation requirements with workers are now more prescriptive.

"Major changes have been made to Work Health and Safety legislation and it is important that all hoteliers and/or staff attend one of the free seminars to know just where they stand."

The seminars have been funded through the WorkCover NSW WorkCover Assist Education and Training Program to help the community become aware of the requirements of the new laws and how they may affect employers and employees.

The AHA (NSW) was the only hotel and accommodation industry association that received funding under the current program.

The upcoming series of seminars focuses on the regulations and builds on the series of 30 seminars that were conducted last year in the lead-up to the changes being introduced.