Stronger work health and safety measures are required ahead of return to work
The ACTU has renewed calls for stronger workplace health and safety laws to be put in place before the mass return to work after COVID-19 restrictions are lifted following an admission by the owner of Cedar Meats, the epicentre of a 45 person coronavirus cluster, that they “comply with all the requirements we are forced to comply with”.
This shows that business does only what is required of them by law and that “advice” and “guidance” is a flimsy protection for workers in the face of a profit motive.
With 45 workers isolated and the facility closed for two weeks, questions are also being raised about the workers’ access to leave and whether or not pandemic leave has been granted.
“In order to avoid a second wave of infections we need better protections and strong enforcement,” says ACTU Secretary Sally McManus.
“Physical distancing is absolutely essential in all workplaces to minimise the chances of the virus spreading, we need laws to ensure this happens as it cannot be “business as usual” when workplaces reopen.
With the increasing return of students back to school, the IEU believes that work health and safety requirements must be in place for students and staff at all schools and centres. Vulnerable staff should be able to continue to work from home - employers can easily provide such work whilst attendance remains below normal levels. Staff should not be forced to take personal/carer’s leave if they wish to work from home because they are medically vulnerable, are pregnant or are a carer for a medically vulnerable person.
“During a pandemic, no workplace is an island. It will not be just the 45 workers who are affected because of weak compliance and no paid pandemic leave, it will be everyone they came in contact with,” says McManus.
“It only takes one workplace for an outbreak to occur and the whole community is affected, we will face this en-mass if the economy is to reopen, so let’s learn from this example and put in place all the protections we need to give Australia the best chance of reopening safely.”
The IEU has previously drawn attention to evidence from New Zealand, showing that community transmission can happen quickly and seriously within school environments. One of New Zealand’s most significant infection clusters, 93 confirmed cases as at 24 April, is linked to a single school, Marist College in Mt Albert, Auckland. Cases include students, school staff, the principal, and the broader school community. Since implementing strict social distancing measures, a week after the Marist College outbreak began, New Zealand has seen no further school outbreaks.
The recent example of a primary school in Victoria having to close after a teacher tested positive for coronavirus highlights the need for comprehensive testing and workplace safety measures. The teacher, at Meadowglen Primary School, Epping, had been teaching on campus as a result of vulnerable students still being present and learning at the school. Despite only having mild symptoms, the teacher suspected he may have had the virus all the way back in March after playing in a band at the site of a coronavirus cluster. His daughter tested positive on March 31 so the teacher tried to do the right thing and get tested but was knocked back as he did not meet the criteria. He has claimed that he attempted to get tested on three separate occasions but has been repeatedly denied.
Another recently publicised infection, at Cranebrook Bright Minds early learning centre, shows the need for clear workplace safety guidelines. In a joint news release between the IEU and Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Learning Jodie Harrison, the union has called for immediate and clear protocols for infection controls in early childhood learning centres. These control measures are equally important in schools, early childhood learning centres, colleges, and all Australian workplaces.
IEUA NSW/ACT Branch Secretary Mark Northam said: “The IEU has been seeking, as a matter of urgency, clear protocols for all early learning centres since the time of the outbreak of COVID-19. The situation at Cranebrook Bright Minds early learning centre demonstrates the need for an urgent response. Teachers and early childhood workers need clear protocols for their daily work – it’s not a big ask. A good centre and workplace is a safe one.”
The IEU has had ongoing correspondence and meetings with major education employer groups, regarding what we consider minimum requirements for a safe transition back to schools and centres. These measures include, but are not limited to:
- Medically vulnerable staff, and other staff living with medically vulnerable persons, to be permitted to work from home.
- Physical distancing to be maintained in staff rooms and office areas - including by permitting staff to work from home.
- Contactless thermometers to be available on site.
- Unwell staff and students must remain home.
- Sanitiser to be provided at the entry to and in classrooms and workspaces.
“All workers need to know they can go and get tested and isolate if they have any symptoms whatsoever without losing income. This is the only way to ensure all workers are encouraged to be tested and to isolate,” says McManus.
“We know the high rate of casualisation in our workforce is a big risk to the virus spreading again. We can address this by giving all workers paid pandemic leave so they do not go to work when sick.”
It is important that any decisions made about the ongoing operations of any workplace are made in consultation with workers and their unions.
“If the nation is to navigate a successful return to reopened schooling, it is imperative that teachers and their unions are given a seat at the decision-making table,” says IEU Secretary Mark Northam.
“Teachers have been sidelined for too long.
"The professionals charged with getting education back on the road must be given both the resources and the professional trust to get the job done.”
