SPC cleared by WorkSafe over vaccine mandate allegations
An Australian-first investigation has cleared a Shepparton food giant of any wrongdoing after it decided to mandate the Covid vaccine.
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The first company outside of Australia’s healthcare system to mandate Covid vaccinations to its workforce has been cleared of wrongdoing.
Shepparton-based fruit producer SPC earlier this year announced it wanted all of its 450 onsite workers to be fully vaccinated by November.
The concerns were raised to WorkSafe Victoria that the company has not properly consulted with its staff before making the decision but said the safety commission found no evidence the business had breached any rules.
SPC’s original decision also extended to any contractor or visitor to its cannery.
Its chief executive, Rob Giles, said the clearance should be regarded as a win for all businesses looking to introduce a vaccine mandate.
“We value our positive relationship with Work Safe, and their inspectors are held in high regard by our managers and representatives in Shepparton,” Mr Giles said.
Up to 70 per cent of our workforce and 30 per cent of the Shepparton community were in isolation at the time.
“It’s shameful that while our local resources were stretched — keeping our people informed and safe while also delivering care packages to their homes — that someone, most likely within the AMWU, sought fit to test us on a technicality rather than supporting our efforts.”
It comes after chairman Hussien Rifai revealed last month 99 per cent of staff have either become fully vaccinated or booked their first dose.
But Mr Rifai said the introduction of the policy could have been done differently.
“Our employees were pretty happy and supportive all the way through,” he said.
“Some might have an opinion that we should have done it softly or convinced people.
“But we can‘t convince every truck driver that comes on site and we can’t convince every contractor that comes on site. So the mandate was really not just covering our employees but also covering our employees’ exposure to the other people who don’t work for us.”
Since SPC announced its own vaccine mandate, several other major organisations have introduced their own including Qantas and Telstra.
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