Workplace Safety plus
Bullying and Harassment
Comcare denies union claim complainants' identities leaked.
Australian Capital Territory
"More industrial strife has broken out on the $363 million Cotter Dam Extension project, with the Commonwealth work safety authority accused of botching its investigation into safety on the site.
But Comcare, which has been probing consistent reports of dangerous work practices at Cotter, denies allegations that it leaked to the job's bosses the names of workers who made complaints. Tensions between the union and the consortium building the dam, the Bulk Water Alliance, have been simmering since last year."
Read the Canberra Times report, 1 Feb 2012, "Comcare denies union claim complainants' identities leaked"
Modern workplaces have room for improvement.
"In the latest management trend gaining momentum in Australia, the hierarchical power structure of the office is shaken up.
But a caring and sharing management model had the potential to backfire, director of the Workplace Research Centre at the University of Sydney, John Buchanan, said.
''You hear a lot of managers talking about it but they don't have the capacity to deliver on it,'' Dr Buchanan said. ''So in fact the rhetoric doesn't match the reality for a lot of Australian workers.''Results from last year's Australia at Work study conducted by the Workplace Research Centre showed one in five did not trust their managers.
The Secretary of Unions NSW, Mark Lennon, said a more collaborative approach between managers and staff had many benefits but companies could use it to exploit workers."
The SMH, 27 November report is available, "The touchy-feely workplace"
Worksafe Victoria accused of being unsafe.
"It is alleged that a culture of bullying and harassment has reportedly arisen within WorkSafe Victoria, the very organisation currently campaigning for an increase in the reporting of workplace bullying. WorkSafe’s union says that it has handled at least 100 claims of bullying and harassment in the last 5 years, and has handled 20 this year.
The Workplace Law report is available, scroll down this page to find the report.
Australia releases official statistics into work-related injuries.
"Data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in early November 2011 has revealed that 18.5% of people injured at work in 2009-10 received no OHS training prior to the incident."
The blog report is available here
The ABS media release is available here
Victorian WorkSafe bullying culture alleged.
Worker survey reveals that Victorian WorkSafe has bullying culture.
"An investigation by The Age into WorkSafe has revealed a toxic environment at the watchdog, with staff complaining of being bullied by their bosses and a culture of fear."
Community and Public Sector Union state secretary Karen Batt told the Age newspaper that "her complaints to WorkSafe chief executive Greg Tweedly and the WorkSafe board had gone unheeded, and she now wanted an inquiry into the agency's culture."
See article below on NSW WorkCover bullying. "Rotating the flat tyres at WorkCover"
Federal Work Health and Safety Bill 2011
Second reading speeches by the Minister representing the Minister for Jobs and Workplace Relations, Simon Crean, introducing the Work Health and Safety Bill 2011 and Work Health and Safety (Transitional and Consequential Provisions) Bill 2011.
Click here for the second reading speeches.
The Bill is available here
The Consequential Provisions Bill is available here
The Explanatory Memoranda are available here
and here
Largest ever workers’ survey shows the modern workplace is increasing job stress and insecurity
ACTU media release 6 September 2011. Australians in 2011 are under more pressure than ever before, working longer hours than they are paid for and increasingly having work invade their home life, totally shattering the myth that employees are to blame for the nation’s productivity, a new national survey of 42,000 workers has found.
ACTU media release plus links to the full report: "Voices from working Australia"
Legal aid lawyers buckle under work stress
"A staff health survey within Legal Aid NSW has exposed high levels of stress, concerns about the bullying of criminal lawyers and found that workers compensation claims for its criminal solicitors are running at twice the national average." SMH 6 September 2011
No matter how many anti-bullying policies are signed off it is always up to union members to ensure a safe culture at work. See below the link to the latest public service bullying case and further down the recent WorkCover case.
To read more: Legal aid lawyers buckle under work stress
“Workplace hazards in safe hands”
PS News reports that a series of Safe Work Australia studies (National Hazard Exposure Worker Surveillance Survey) has found a range of workplace hazards.
“Mr Phillips (Chair of Safe Work Australia) said work-related musculoskeletal disorders were one of the eight priority occupational diseases for Australia and accounted for the largest proportion of occupational disease workers’ compensation claims in Australia.”
To read more about what was reported click
here
To read the Safe Work Australia report click
here
Rotating the flat tires at WorkCover
PSA members at WorkCover are in a unique situation: who can they go to with a complaint about OHS?
Its a career-limiting move to complain about safety for WorkCover staff. There is a long history of bullying within WorkCover. Today the Sydney Morning Herald has broken the silence.
The response of WorkCover's Minister, Michael Daley, has been to commission an Inquiry into bullying in one Unit at WorkCover. This Inquiry will be handled by the Dept of Premier and Cabinet.
What is really needed is an Inquiry by the NSW Parliament into bullying across the whole of WorkCover. This will have far more chance of putting an end to bullying within the OHS safety regulator. The usual response of WorkCover management to any Industrial Relations or OHS problem is to rotate the flat tires and hope the problem goes away. Or bullying the complainant.
The question for the PSA is: why doesn’t the union take an OHS prosecution against WorkCover for this bullying?
On 1 January 2012 new model OHS laws will come into place around Australia. These new laws will not include the current right of NSW unions to take OHS prosecutions under the current NSW OHS Act.
The PSA should prosecute WorkCover for bullying. There is ample evidence to do so, including successful Workers Compensation claims from PSA members who have been bullied. Why is the PSA waiting?
To read more click
here
Or click
here
Or for the followup SMH article on 22 September 2010
here
For the followup SMH article on 4 March 2011, Bullying report reveals 'toxic culture' at WorkCover
Male victims of domestic violence need campaigns and services: new Western Australian report findings
A groundbreaking report from Edith Cowan University (ECU) Perth has found that male victims of domestic violence can suffer from a unique form of legal/administrative abuse previously unidentified in research, as well as experiencing most of the same impacts as female victims. The Intimate Partner Abuse of Men report launched in Perth, June 2010, found that male victims of intimate partner abuse and their children suffer a range of consequences, such as psychological distress (including disorders such as depression and anxiety disorders), suicidal ideation, impaired self concept and loss of work.
It found that male victims are often reluctant to disclose their experience of abuse or seek help because of their sometimes justified fears that they will not be believed, that they will not be assisted or will instead be blamed for the abuse. The study recommends that government-funded public campaigns be conducted to raise awareness of domestic violence against men; that consideration should be given to providing publicly-funded services specifically for male victims; and that workers in health and welfare fields should be provided with training to assist them to recognise and respond effectively to male victims of domestic violence. To read the report click
here
Performance Development Schemes
When done properly Performance Feedback systems can be good for employees because they force supervisors to say how they will assist anyone who they think isn't doing well rather than focussing on punitive behaviour that does nothing to help the employee.
In each agency the performance schemes have different names e.g. 'performance development', 'performance feedback', 'coaching and performance' etc. Many members express concern that managers may misuse Performance Management as a form of bullying. Click here to find out what you can do to turn performance feedback to your advantage.
Bullies more likely to be a boss
73% of people who say they have been bullied identify their boss as the culprit according to a new survey. Approxiately 40% of respondents said they had been bullied and just under half of the public sector workers surveyed said they had been bullied. The email survey of 2000 people identified activity from threats of dismissal unless an employee performed work outside their job description to more subtle things such as favouring one employee over another for perks and promotion. The Director of Talent2 who commissioned the survey said that generally speaking, good leaders don't need to bully".
Meet the "powerpath"
One in 10 Australian managers are deceitful, cold-hearted manipulators bent on attaining power for its own sake says Dr Glyn Brokensha. These managers tend to introduce meaningless reforms and endless reviews to cover up that they achieve very little.
Protect us from rage
It may not be bullying but agressive clients can be just as harmful to our health. A South Australian PSA survey of 600 government employees found a third had been threatened or abused while driving government cars, or their vehicles had been vandalised. The South Australian PSA is calling for the removal of government number plates on some cars, a bigger pool of vehicles for home visits and extra security for government buildings. Public servants in agencies such as the Housing Trust, Correctional Services Department, Health Department, SA Police, Education Department and Youth and Family Services often work alone in the field without phones or decent systems for dealing with violent situations. The murder of mental health chief Margaret Tobin in 2002 has focussed minds on the need for security when dealing with angry or mentally disturbed clients. Some staff have been forced to use taxis for home visits because of a shortage of vehicles, leaving staff "vulnerable with no means of escape" in violent situations.
Is bullying a 'beat up'?
Is bullying and its legal ramifications just a ‘ beat up ’ to keep workplace lawyers in their jobs, or are we facing some sort of bullying epidemic. Workplace Lawyers partner Jamie Robinson and solicitor Brett Todd survey the issue.
Sex Harassment - HREOC Report 2004
The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission has found that 41% of Australian women and 14% of men aged between 18 and 64 years have been sexually harassed. 28% of Australian women and 7% of Australian men have experienced it at work. Almost half of the harassers were co-workers of the target, with over a third of harassers a person in authority in the workplace in relation to the target. Of those harassed by someone in authority the harasser was more likely to be male than female. Female harassers appear more likely to harass co-workers than those in authority. Less than a third of the harassment was formally reported. Full text
of the report can be found at the HREOC site.
Guidance notes on Bullying and Violence - Victoria
This booklet has been endorsed by the Victorian Trades Hall Council, the Victorian Employers' Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Australian Industry Group. Trades Hall Council views the document as a starting point but believes a code of practice is required.
Guidance notes on Bullying and Violence - West Australia
This booklet contains information on how to identify and deal with bullying.
PSA Survey on Bullying
Delegates in the Department of Education and Training (DET) ran a survey on bullying with a view to developing a Departmental policy on preventing and handling bullying and harassment. Check the
PSA website for more information.
Bully-Busting
Labor Council secretary John Robertson says unions will focus on bullying as a major area of concern for workers across a range of industries.
"For the first time, the health and safety regulations include provisions for psychological hazards, such as bullying by managers or fellow workers," Robertson says.
"Workplace safety representatives now have enhanced rights to raise safety issues and Labor Council will be encouraging them to target bullying."
NSW Labor Council has produced new guidelines for dealing with workplace bullying including:
- identifying workplace bullies
- raising bullying with employers
- model workplace bullying policies
- and a workplace bullying checklist.
These are available from the unionsafe website
Union Safe
State Government Initiatives
WorkCover NSW
The National Children's and Youth Law Centre (NCYLC) is conducting a project funded by the WorkCover NSW Injury Prevention, Education and Research Grants Scheme to address the problem of workplace bullying, particularly involving young trainees and apprentices. Links to a number of NSW WorkCover documents
Queensland Taskforce on Bullying
The Qld Government is trying to identify the extent of workplace bullying as well as strategies for increasing awareness of the problem and developing a whole of government response. Submissions to the Taskforce closed in 2001 but the discussion paper is a useful resource.
Victorian Proposed Code of Practice
In Victoria in the 2000/01 financial year, nearly 1100 WorkCover claims arose out of either harassment at work or exposure to workplace violence. WorkSafe developed a code of practice to help workplace parties address these problems.
Information from the PSA
The PSA runs courses for delegates and members on Dealing with Bullying in the Workplace, Occupational Health & Safety, and Women in the Union. The training can be done in paid time. The PSA also has policies on occupational violence. For more information talk to your delegate or ring the PSA on 9290 1555.
Information from other unions
Queensland Nurses
NTEU Draft Policy
NSW ASU Clerks
HREOC Annual Report
HREOC's Annual Reports show that discrimination and harassment is widespread in Australian workplaces.
In one instance a complainant was employed as a labourer with an agricultural company. The complainant alleged that during his three months with the company he was treated less favourably and subjected to abuse because of his Aboriginal descent. He alleged that in front of other employees, the boss swore at him, made remarks about his skin colour when a black sheep came into sight, called him 'eight ball' and held him down and tried to write 'eight ball' on his head. The complainant also alleged that he was refused shift rotation while this was granted to non-Aboriginal employees. The complainant claimed that he resigned because of the alleged treatment.
The complaint was resolved by conciliation with the respondent company agreeing to pay the complainant $1,500 compensation and re-employ him in a different location.
More examples of complaints and their resolution
Mental Health Association of NSW
Many people think of bullying as persecuting or ganging up on individuals but most bullying is not so obvious.
Resources on Bullying & Harassment
The Office of Employment Equity (formerly ODEOPE) used to have a
number of useful resources free of charge in its library. The library was abolished in June 2005. Some of its resources are now located in the Central Corporate Services Unit (Department of Commerce). These
include:
(1)Bullying and harassment: risk prevention guidelines for employers: a book
by Anthea Lowe & Assoc 2001
(2)Bullying: from backyard to Boardroom: a book by Paul McCarthy and others.
Federation Press, 2001
(3)Workplace bullying: what can be done to avoid victim traumatisation? Beyond
Bullying News,
Contact the Office of Employment Equity Librarian Tel: 02 92483528 Fax: 02 92483500
Web
http://www.eeo.nsw.gov.au
We all lose to the office bully
A recent case highlights the problem of workplace victimisation, which is now more widespread than many imagine, writes Grant Michelson in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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Progressive PSA
brings together rank and file trade union activists in the Public Service
Association of New South Wales and the CPSU (SPSF Branch).
We work for
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improved and more
equitable pay
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greater job security
- sustainable jobs in a sustainable environment
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a democratic and
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