On May 6, 2022, NTEU lodged the first ever complaint under s82 of the new WA WHS Act 2020.
The complaint was on behalf of members working in the Animal Hospital at Murdoch. We requested a WorkSafe Inspector carry out an investigation into significant and urgent safety concerns at the Hospital. Members put together a very comprehensive package of evidence substantiating their complaints about psychosocial injuries that they had experienced over a two year period. This was the very first application to WorkSafe via s82 under the new Act that came into effect on 31 March 2022 and we worked closely with UnionsWA to ensure a good precedent was set.
Under the new Act, safety matters brought to the attention of WorkSafe are required to be investigated within 48 hours. WorkSafe assigned an Inspector to investigate the concerns and immediately applied for an extension of time to be able to deal with the vast number of complex psycho-social issues.
During the investigation, the Inspector issued Nine Improvement Notices on the University with various end dates for compliance ranging from August to December 2022. We are now providing support to Workplace Health and Safety Reps (WHSR’s) and members to ensure the the University complies with the Improvement Notices.