Provisional improvement notices

Australia: Court backs union safety notice

A state government department in Victoria, Australia, that ignored an improvement notice issued by a union safety rep has been successfully prosecuted. The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development had ignored a Provisional Improvement Notice (PIN) issued by the safety rep.

Brian Boyd, secretary of the Victorian Trades Hall Council (VTHC), said unions and safety activists welcomed the action by official safety watchdog, WorkSafe Victoria. “Occupational health and safety (OHS) representatives are the lynchpin of workplace health and safety. They deserve to be respected and they must be listened to,” he said. “The courage shown by this OHS rep in the face of this mammoth bureaucracy deserves recognition by all in the community.”

The state’s safety law requires employers issued with a notice to either comply with the notice or appeal the notice to WorkSafe Victoria. The department did neither.

Mr Boyd said: “This is an historic case. Never before in the history of Victoria’s OHS laws has an employer been prosecuted for this breach. Employers and OHS reps everywhere should take note of this case. It is a message to everyone to take OHS duties seriously.” The PIN was issued because of a lack of seating in the staffroom of a school, where only 13 chairs were supplied for a staff of 25.

A number of Australian states give safety reps the right to take this form of official action.

VTHC news release • Hazards safety notices and safety reps webpages