THE region’s timber workers’ union has called for an overhaul of SafeWork SA following a string of problems surfacing from a report by the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption.
The timber union says the workplace safety watchdog needs to be more responsive to incidents and undertake random visits to forestry operation sites.
This comes as concerns continue over the management of fatigue within the hauling/harvesting sector and the warning the agency is at “risk of corruption”.
There are also lingering questions regarding how extensive SafeWork SA’s investigation was into the vehicle accident that tragically took the lives of four forestry workers two years ago near Penola.
In particular, the lengthy report highlights a particular concern with SafeWork SA’s Mount Gambier office’s management of evidence.
“I am not sure SafeWork SA is complying with its own standard operating procedure,” independent commissioner Bruce Lander QC said in the report.
“At the time of my visit to SafeWork SA’s office in Mount Gambier there was no secure location for the storage of evidence.”
Mr Lander recommended SafeWork SA review its evidence management practices in its regional offices to ensure all offices had a secure evidence storage facility and access was restricted.
The recommendation also included all dealings with evidence stored in the facility were documented in accordance with the standard operating procedures.
“These facilities need not be large, but must be secure,” Mr Lander said.
Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union South East secretary Brad Coates said he wanted to see unannounced visits by SafeWork SA to regional timber sites.
He revealed there would be some sites in the region that had never had a SafeWork SA inspector unexpectedly “knock on its door”.
Mr Coates also wanted to see a direct line with regional inspectors instead of having to go through a statewide triage system when reporting incidents or issues.
“This is not a good system, it is clumsy and cumbersome.”
He said SafeWork SA was yet to give any details to the union regarding the recent fire at the Tarpeena Timberlink site even though it had notified the agency over the incident.
“In Victoria, they would have got back to us with what their investigation found,” Mr Coates said.
He said there were also ongoing concerns regarding fatigue related management within the industry.
Under the current system, he said SafeWork relied on self regulation by employers.
“While some employers spend a lot of time on safety, others just do the basics and are good at hiding things,” Mr Coates claimed.
He said greater scrutiny was needed in terms of paperwork, such as time-sheets and log books.
“What is in paperwork does not necessarily reflect what is going on,” the union leader said.
Treasurer Rob Lucas said the government would thoroughly consider the report and its 39 recommendations for change.
“I also note the commissioner’s findings the organisation is ‘largely devoid of a suite of coherent, logical and structured policies’ and operates in a culture described by many staff as ‘toxic’,” Mr Lucas said.
“It’s a crying shame that this agency has been allowed to descend into such dysfunction under the watch of the former Labor government over many years.”
In his findings, Commissioner Lander said SafeWork SA “has a very poor understanding of its own risks” and “is lost in a sea of overly convoluted, unnecessary and ineffective policies”.
