Thousands of Centrelink staff have taken part in a national week of action to highlight widespread workplace safety concerns.
The action was part of a CPSU campaign for fair and enforceable health and safety rules in the agency.
"Centrelink employees face clear and present safety risks in the workplace ranging from customer aggression in service centres, rising stress levels as a result of chronic understaffing, through to acoustic shock in call centres," CPSU Deputy National President Lisa Newman said.
In response to Centrelink management's ongoing reluctance to agree to an enforceable health and safety agreement, staff wore safety pins with a message urging management to 'get stuck in' to OHS.
"Staff are crying out for fair, clear, and consistent OHS rules they can rely on - rules that are enforceable - but management aren't listening," Ms Newman said.
Ms Newman said the national protest action, involving thousands of staff at hundreds of worksites will increase pressure on management to take the concerns of employees seriously.
"While CPSU has no problem with management's language about achieving best practice, when it comes to the pointy end of workplace safety, words are not enough.
"Through their action, staff have sent a loud message - clear, enforceable rules that apply to employer and employee alike - are absolutely essential to making our workplaces safer," she said.
Campaign page: Support the campaign for fair workplace safety rules in Centrelink here
CPSU view: Read CPSU's proposed guidelines for Centrelink HSMA here
Stronger Together
Comments(2)
Posted by:glenys serslev - 16 May 2008, 12:22pm
Increasingly as staff we need the union to represent us, and to do so effectively. Changes to policy, such as trialling the quarantining of welfare payments must be thought out with consideration to our safety.
Posted by:anon - 15 May 2008, 10:23pm
Well done! As a Manager, the last time I tried to raise a safety issue, I was isolated and told to shut up.
Increasingly as staff we need the union to represent us, and to do so effectively. Changes to policy, such as trialling the quarantining of welfare payments must be thought out with consideration to our safety.
Well done! As a Manager, the last time I tried to raise a safety issue, I was isolated and told to shut up.