WorkSafe kept critical review a secret

NT News
Written by: ALYSSA BETTS | August 17th, 2011

NT WorkSafe has been keeping secret four recommendations of an internal review - most of them to do with the agency's boss and her management style.

It found executive director Laurene Hull should get coaching to be a better boss, apologise to staff for a door fiasco and relinquish power over "independent'' reviews into her decision making.

The 2009 review, by Walter Bellin, said WorkSafe was "haemorrhaging staff at an alarming rate''.

"The reasons for these valuable employees leaving all have to do with their perception, overall, of how WorkSafe is being managed,'' the report said.

It made 17 recommendations to improve things. But WorkSafe only ever publicly acknowledged 13 - until asked by the NT News.

Ms Hull said the report was not required to be made public, and was also "less than satisfactory''.

"Four of its 17 recommendations were not released to staff as they were either irrelevant, fell outside the scope of the consultancy, compromised staff privacy or were based solely on the author's point of view,'' she wrote.

CLP politician John Elferink grilled Ms Hull about the report in June's estimates hearings. He says the agency is dysfunctional and needs new management.

But Attorney General Delia Lawrie's spokesman Patrick Hastwell said that Mr Elferink was on a "witch-hunt''.

"The minister has full confidence in the executive director of Worksafe,'' he said.

The review identified concerns with Ms Hull's powers. It said the WorkSafe staffer who did internal reviews then reported to Ms Hull.

"(It) could lead to a perception that she is in a position to directly influence or determine the outcomes of a process that is meant to independently review her decisions.''

Ms Hull said this recommendation had been ignored because the author had "not clearly understood'' the report process.

Another recommendation was that Ms Hull use a coach to work on her strengths and weaknesses.

It said while she was driven and dedicated, she tended to micromanage, could be intimidating, and made "barbed comments''.

The review also said workplace relations were so strained that a management move to lock a back door sparked deep resentment.