Unions push safety claims as workers return to office

ACTU says changes to workplace layouts and ventilation will be needed as lockdowns ease.

ACTU secretary Sally McManus. Picture: Getty Images

Unions have declared that changes to workplace layouts and ventilation will be required as lockdowns ease and workers return to the office.

In new advice to health and safety representatives, the ACTU says good ventilation in workplaces is essential to stopping the spread of Covid and, where possible, workplaces should open windows or doors, use air-conditioning units to pump fresh air into buildings, and air purifiers to reduce the risk of airborne transmission.

The advice says in most cases the layout of a workplace or the way work is done will need to be altered to reduce the amount of time people spend in proximity, especially inside enclosed spaces.

ACTU secretary Sally Mc­Manus said employers had a legal ­obligation to make the workplace safe and should identify and work to remove hazards that range from “abusive customers to trip hazards and hazardous materials”.

“This extends to Covid-19,” she told the representatives.

“Your employer must make a plan to keep you and your workplace as safe as possible.”

Reducing transmission of the virus in workplaces was essential to stop the spread and prevent further outbreaks.

Ms McManus said unions stood ready to work with employers to find solutions to the often complex problems posed by the virus, and to ensure that none of these changes created other, unintended, workplace health and safety risks.

“To keep people safe, avoid our health system being overwhelmed and being plunged back into lockdown; we have to make sure that every workplace is as safe as possible,” she said.

“Workers have the right to be safe in their workplace, and this extends to being protected from exposure to Covid-19.

“Employers are required by law to identify Covid-19 risks in the workplace and consult workers about their plan to protect them.”

Ms McManus said allowing businesses to reopen and bring workers back into workplaces could not come at the expense of the health and safety of working people.

“Vaccination is the best defence, but it can’t do the job on its own,” she said.

“To keep transmission out of workplaces, ventilation and social distancing are also needed.

“Employers and workers need to work together to ensure all that can be done is put in place when workplaces reopen.”

The advice says workers and health and safety representatives must be consulted regarding how public health orders will be implemented at work, what risk control measures are necessary to control the risk of the virus spreading, including any decisions being made around vaccinations.