Aged Care Facility Charged By Workplace Safety Watchdog

Last Monday, a Melbourne-based aged care facility was officially charged with nine breaches of the Occupational Health & Safety Act.

Following a positive COVID-19 result from a worker, it is alleged that St Basil’s failed to require workers to wear personal protective equipment. Subsequently, 94 residents and 94 staff tested positive for COVID and 45 people died following complications from the virus.

Following the 23 month investigation, it was also alleged that the facility failed to train workers in how to safely don and remove the protective equipment, to verify that staff were competent using it, and to tell staff when it should be in use.

As a result, the maximum penalty that St Basils is liable for is $1.49 million.

Worksafe Victoria charged St Basils with a breach of sections 21(1) and 21(2)(e) of the OHS Act, in that it failed to provide such training necessary to enable its employees to perform their work safely and without risks to health.

This serves as a reminder how safety processes and documentation need to be continually updated to reflect changing external legislative and regulatory requirements.

In addition to this, the communication to staff must also be made a priority – ensuring that all staff and workers are notified of the new processes and procedures. Most best practice organisations adopt a document management system to house key operational processes as a means to control and communicate to staff and interested parties.

Legal experts say that this case should serve as a reminder that employers need to ensure they continue to take all steps, as far as reasonably practicable, to manage the risks of a potential outbreak. They also warn that this incident could result in more prosecution of the same kind, including in other jurisdictions.

Mitch Kenny
mkenny@safewrite.com

Mitch has an extensive knowledge on HSEQ and compliance requirements. He has spent the last 5 years as the Product Manager for the MAUS ISO & Compliance solutions, before launching SafeWrite to further help users improve their systems and processes through leading technology and resources.