Coronavirus (COVID-19) - Further Victorian restrictions and update
Metropolitan Melbourne is now in Stage 4 restrictions, and the rest of Victoria is now under Stage 3 restrictions. This means everyone in the state can only leave home for one of the four permitted reasons and must wear a mask or face covering when leaving the home - including at work. Stage 4 restrictions are more severe both for the general public and for workplaces. Many businesses will now be closed, meaning more workers will be working from home. Employers/businesses which are 'essential' and will remain open have specific measures they must take, such as a COVIDSafe plan and Worker Permits. For updates go to this page: COVID 19 Victorian situation.
According to the latest official figures, there are 18,728 cases of coronavirus disease diagnosed in Australia - an increase of 3,148 since last week, almost all in Victoria. 232 people have died - 56 more than last week. These figures do not include today's Victorian update announced just after midday by the Premier: there have been 725 new cases diagnosed since yesterday and 15 more fatalities - one of whom was a man in his 30's. While these numbers are demoralising, it is hoped that Stage 4 restrictions will show results soon.
The ACTU is still calling for pandemic leave for all workers - while there have been some payments, equivalent to pandemic leave, made available to Victorians - announced by the Federal government, but paid for by the state government, there are still many workers who are missing out. We need a fair national system - so sign the ACTU's petition now and send it around to all your contacts/post it on your social media. The ACTU's has also set up a page to email your MP to demand Paid Pandemic Leave.
The international situation keeps worsening: the number of people infected is now at 18,683,573 - last Wednesday it was 16,893,293, this is over 1.8 million more infections. There have now been 703,135 deaths around the world.
Read more: For more information on Coronavirus and COVID-19, go to this page on our site.
Melbourne workers concerned about COVID-19 threatened by employer
About 35 workers at the Dandenong Spotless Laundry, owned by Ensign Services, did not show up to work last Wednesday after two people from the workplace tested positive to coronavirus in less than a week. Since then a third has been diagnosed. The United Workers Union (UWU) said the staff took this action because they were afraid the employer was not handling the COVID-19 outbreak properly. The workers’ actions led Spotless to file an application with the Fair Work Commission compelling the staff to return to work. The hearing on Wednesday afternoon was adjourned to Thursday morning, but in the meantime, the company dropped its case - no doubt realising it was being draconian.
In a statement, UWU executive director Godfrey Moase said the withdrawal of the action did not resolve workers' concerns and the union wanted to see pandemic leave offered to the workers. "Low-wage migrant workers have done the right thing by taking a stand for the safety of themselves, their families and the entire community," he said. "The question now is who pays. Time and time again, corporations shift their responsibilities to stop the spread onto low-wage migrant workers; many of whom don't qualify for JobKeeper or JobSeeker."
Read more: Spotless takes staff to Fair Work Commission for refusing to come to work after coronavirus outbreak and Melbourne company withdraws its Fair Work case against staff over coronavirus outbreak. ABCNews online
Ask Renata
Hi Renata
I'm working in an 'essential industry' and I just want to know if the conditions that we have to work in are OK. This is a typical shift at a site staff are sent to: 12.25 hours shift; no toilet; no washing facilities; sitting in a delivery van for the entire shift; no breaks; no facilities to eat or drink.
:-0 No, what you describe is totally not OK!! Your employer is not complying with their general duty of care under the OHS Act. If you are working as a contractor at another employer's worksite, then that employer has duties to you as if you were their employer - see this page for what the employer's duty of care is.
- Your employer is not providing a 'system of work' that is safe and without risks to health. The length of shift, 12.25 hours, is far too long to work without a scheduled, as well as some 'unscheduled' breaks - see this page on Breaks which explains why the employer must provide breaks. However, EXACTLY what these must be will be in your EBA - you will need to contact your union about this.
- Facilities and amenities: the employer must provide adequate facilities for the welfare of employees. If you are at another employer's site, then your employer and the other employer need to work together to ensure that you and other employees have access to adequate facilities. While the Act doesn't give details, the Workplace Amenities and Work Environment Compliance Code sets out what employers need to do. This includes: Toilets, Dining facilities, Drinking water, Change rooms and other facilities, and First aid.
Please remember: if you have any OHS related queries, then send them in via our Ask Renata facility on the website.
Schools: most Victorian students now 'remote learning'
Last week we reported the concerns of the Australian Education Union (AEU) and its members with how schools were operating under a mix of remote and face-to-face teaching in Melbourne/Mitchell Shire during the Stage 3 lockdown period. The government listened to the concerns - and the campaign - as is clear from the new arrangements.
The majority of school staff will be required by the Department of Education and Training to work from home from today with a small number of staff members attending on-site to supervise vulnerable students and children of essential workers in the remote learning program. Since the weekend, the AEU has been raising a range of issues with DET and the government on behalf of members, including:
- additional planning time/pupil free days for all schools in rural and regional Victoria, for special schools, and for VCE/VCAL teachers in Melbourne and Mitchell Shire, to support the transition to remote and flexible programs
- arrangements for special school staff attendance and work in regional and rural areas
- clarity on the list of essential workers whose children are permitted to attend school if there are no other care arrangements available
- a process to identify staff needed on-site to supervise students who must attend schools
- who is considered a vulnerable staff member and who cannot be required to work on-site
- VCE and VCAL, including practical subject program and SAC arrangements
- arrangements for school staff to be able to have their school-aged children attend school on-site if necessary (as well as arrangements for childcare or preschool for children who are not of school age)
ACTU survey for working from home
A reminder to fill out the ACTU's survey on the impacts people are experiencing whilst working from home during the pandemic, and to gain insights into workers’ attitudes to this becoming a more permanent feature of work into the future. The results will be used to build a claim for working people in terms of what concerns people have and what protections need to be built into the system if this is to become part of the ‘new normal’. You can fill out the survey here, and please distribute it widely - tell your colleagues, your friends and family about it.
August 14: ANMF Conference on Psychological Hazards in Healthcare
Another reminder: The ANMF (Vic branch) is organising a half day online conference in a couple of weeks. The union says: “Whether you’re a nurse, midwife or personal care worker, the online 2020 Psychological Hazards in Healthcare Conference will provide you with information and skills to recognise, report and manage psychological hazards.”
Psychological hazards such as bullying and harassment are just as damaging to healthcare workers as physical hazards associated with lifting and moving patients. Hazards such as excessive workload and occupational violence and aggression can place pressure on the psychological health of nurses, midwives and personal care workers.
Conference presenters including Dr Kate Blackwood, of New Zealand’s Massey University, will present evidence-based frameworks to build healthier workplaces.
Find out more here and register now for the 2020 Psychological Hazards in Healthcare Conference, to be held online from 9 am to 1 pm on 14 August.
Asbestos news
NSW: EPA fines council
Public, staff and contractors were exposed to asbestos for almost two weeks because Narrabri Shire Council (NSC) failed to notify the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) about an incident at the landfill. The EPA has fined the council $35,000 and ordered it to pay the EPA’s legal and investigation costs after it crushed a stockpile of asbestos contaminated material and used it to build roads at the landfill.
The EPA also ordered the council to publish a notice of conviction in the newspaper. The statement, drafted by lawyers, reads: "The council became aware of the pollution incident on November 1, 2018, but did not notify the EPA or implement its pollution incident management plan until November 13, 2018. As a result of the offences, members of the public and council staff and contractors at the Narrabri Landfill were exposed to the risk of asbestos for a period of 13 days in November 2018." Source: The Northern Daily Leader
Sydney: Businessman, council investigator
Corrupt businessman, Nosir Kabite, 50, who bribed council investigator and former NRL player, Craig Izzard, 56, to turn a blind eye to illegal dumping of waste and asbestos in Sydney’s northwest has narrowly avoided being sent to prison. He paid bribes of thousands of dollars during 2015 and 2016 to help him illegally dump waste.
Izzard was employed by Penrith City Council at the time of the offences and was working as a regional illegal dumping squad (RIDS) officer in western Sydney. The Independent Commission Against Corruption found Izzard corrupt in 2017 and both men were later charged with criminal offences. Izzard was sentenced in April and Kabite was sentenced late last month in the NSW District Court including for agent corruptly solicit benefit (between $5000 and $15,000) and corruptly give or offer to other benefit (between $5000 and $15,000). Source: The Daily Telegraph
More information on Asbestos: In the workplace and In the Home.
International Union news
England: Earlier lockdown would have saved bus driver lives
Imposing an earlier lockdown in England would have saved workers’ lives, according to a report into the high death rate of London bus drivers in the pandemic by a leading expert on health and social inequalities. Male London bus drivers aged 20 to 65 were 3.5 times more likely to die from COVID-19 between March and May than men in other occupations across England and Wales, said Sir Michael Marmot of the Institute of Health Equity (IHE). The report was commissioned by Transport for London amid major concerns over the deaths of bus drivers in the capital.
“Driving a bus, coach or taxi is among the frontline occupations associated with increased risk of death from COVID-19. Because London was an early centre of the pandemic, it is likely that the increased risk among London bus drivers is associated with exposure,” said Prof Marmot. “Our review explicitly suggests that lockdown was the main factor that saved bus drivers’ lives. If lockdown had occurred earlier, it would likely have saved more lives. For those with high blood pressure, exposure to COVID-19 is particularly hazardous, disproportionately affecting drivers of ethnic minority backgrounds. In addition to reducing exposure to the virus, all drivers should therefore be screened for health risk, with those most vulnerable to dying from the virus receiving the most benefit.”
The report noted that heart disease has been known to be an occupational hazard to bus driver since the 1950s. Ten bus companies were working for TFL at the start of the pandemic, employing about 30,000 people, of whom 34 reportedly died with COVID-19. Of those, at least 29 were among the 25,000 bus drivers. The report found there may have been two more, one of whom went off sick in February, while the other died in June. The findings are not limited to London. Looking at excess mortality for England and Wales over the period from March to May, it was higher everywhere for bus and coach drivers than other occupations.
Several unions responded to the report. Transport union RMT senior assistant general secretary Mick Lynch said: “This report is an indictment of the government’s sluggish and irresponsible initial responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. While the timing of actions by most companies was similar, the majority of actions were probably initiated after most of the drivers who died had become infected. Bus companies need to be more proactive in understanding existing health conditions of bus drivers, supporting better health and identifying those most at risk of Covid-19 mortality.” Unite's regional officer John Murphy said: “This report makes it quite clear that in its approach to lockdown the government tried to lock the stable door after the horse had bolted. London bus drivers and their families paid a terrible price for the government’s mistakes during the pandemic and these should be fully scrutinised in a public inquiry.”
Read more: Institute of Health Equity (IHE) news release. London Bus Drivers Review, IHE, 2020. TfL statement. RMT news release. Unite news release. Source: Risks 958
