No wonder, I couldn't get Worksafe to prosecute!

I have been an advocate for workcover victims for ten years now and have
been fighting for the prosecution of my Husbands ex employers for not
providing a RTW, Constructive Dismissal and workplace bullying.

During this ten year period worksafe have continually refused to prosecute
this employer even though I could supply strong evidence of my complaints.
I found this very frustrating and couldn't understand why they wouldn't do
anything until recently!

It has now become clear on why worksafe didn't act on my complaints was
because, they are up each others arses, If you look up Worksafe Victoria
arse you will see, Devondales Boots!

I recently found a worksafe document noted in the link above that contained
information on a program called project ICE.

This project involved my husbands ex employers and was a best practice
application document on intervention, Communication and Education and
this Project was fully funded by WorkSafe’s RTW Fund see below:

ORGANISATION: Murray Goulburn Cooperative Co Limited
PROJECT TITLE: "Project ICE -Intervention, Communication & Education"
DURATION: 18 mths
This initiative is targeted at providing customized tools to support the
delivery of early intervention strategies to rural Victorian employers, taking
into particular consideration barriers which may be unique to regional areas
for example access to health care services, availability of general practitioners
and allied health services.
It is anticipated that the development of this model & subsequent training
program for supervision and management will enable more effective &
proactive workplace intervention to occur in a more timely manner.

The list below was taken directly from that document, and it clearly states
that this employer has had a poor history on injury rates & RTW's but,
when I complained to them (worksafe) about the fact that my Husband
was not offered a RTW and that the employer had constructively dismissed
him they completely ignored it and flatly denied that, that was happening
and closed our file.

Now in one of their own documents, it clearly states that this employer:

1. Injury rate –consistent levels for last 2 years
2. Financial –premium continues to increase @ 3.8% of remuneration
3. Inconsistent WorkCover and RTW approach -gaps across various sites
4. Internal benchmarking –highlighted significant improvement opportunity

Now, After continually complaining for another 7 years and requesting that
Worksafe investigate my allegations, they(worksafe) decided in their infinite
wisdom, to do a surprise visit to the factory some 7 years ( 2007) after I made
the original complaint in 1999.

Now, on worksafe's investigators arrival ,the employers attempted to block
worksafe investigators by refusing to hand over documentation, which I have
evidence of, and the employer could not provide clear evidence of when
their RTW program was commenced and guess what, nothing was done
about either happening?

Then, in worksafes annual report it shows that this employer was also then
given a grant to improve their RTW outcomes!.......... WTF!

What were they given a grant for? Why weren't they fined?
Why weren't they prosecuted?

It seems that if you are an employer you are rewarded for being f--k ups
and the workers are just thrown onto the scrap heap. Well I for one, am sick
of this shit and I want to know why is it, when worksafe know about this
companies poor RTW outcomes, why did they(worksafe) ignore my complaints
for 10 years and tell me that this company was compliant and why, didn't they
help my husband RTW like they should of?

Why is this employer getting away with not returning injured workers to
work? And why did WORKSAFE GIVE THEM A BLOODY GRANT, it should
have been a fine!

This employer injured my husband permanently and he gets nothing,
no job, no income, no future, no RTW but, the company who is responsible
for his injury, gets a grant for being f--k ups, and not supplying a safe
workplace, work that out!

I find it rather obvious Mr Tweedly, that the ICE program was only
implemented between April 2007 – July 2008 after, worksafe had made
their surprise visit, so you knew about this then, and still did nothing!
That's not being very Transparent now is it?

And, you still refuse to reopen his file?????????????????????????

Come on Mr Tweedly you know about all of this? When are you going to
do something?My husband deserved to RTW and deserved to be protected
from losing his job due to a workplace injury, just as the ACA provides, not to
be thrown onto the scrap heap and forgotten.

Come on Worksafe, Make this employer accountable for not being complaint
like you should have in 1999!

Do your job and give him back his life!

Hallam business guilty of workers compensation offence

December 05, 2008

Pet product importer and supplier, Global Pet Products, pleaded guilty in the
Dandenong Magistrates Court on Wednesday 3rd December 2008, to failing to
provide an injured employee with suitable employment as required under
Victoria’s workers compensation legislation.

The Court heard that the injured worker was employed as a warehouse picker
and packer when she suffered an injury to her lower back in 2005. Her workers
compensation claim was accepted and she was later certified by her doctor as
having a capacity to return to work on modified duties.

Global Pet Products failed to provide suitable employment, however, because
of her inability to perform her pre-injury duties. Her employment was later
terminated in 2007.

Under the State’s workers compensation laws, an employer is required to
provide employment to an injured worker who has a capacity for work.

Evidence also revealed that Global Pet Products never contacted the injured
worker to discuss her return to work options and was uncooperative in its
attempts to return the worker to modified duties.

The company was subsequently convicted and fined $4,000. It was also
ordered to pay costs of $400.

Magistrate Luisa Bazzani said the intent of the legislation was for a speedy
and safe return to work for injured workers. “This can’t happen without an
employer’s backing, which was non-existent in this case.”

WorkSafe Executive Director, Len Boehm said helping an injured worker
return to work is good for the worker, their families, their workmates and
for business.“Under the legislation, an employer must keep an injured
worker’s position open for 12 months and if the worker has a capacity
they must be provided with suitable employment.”

Mr Boehm said that identifying and prosecuting cases like this helps to build
awareness among employers about their legal obligations to support injured
workers and the importance of helping an injured worker return to work.

“WorkSafe is committed to doing everything it can to ensure injured workers
receive the care and support they need to re-enter the workplace. Employers
who ignore their responsibilities will be penalised.”

WCV's: So Mr Boehm, I guess my question is, why is it that many of the injured
workers we are speaking to and polling have not been returned to work?

I personally have alerted worksafe to this very issue and have provided more
than ample documentation regarding a worker not being offered or returned to
work, so if what you have stated above is correct then why is this still happening?

WCV's recently polled readers and found that 88% of injured workers were not
being returened to work, so Mr Boehm if 88% of injured workers are not going
back to their preinjury jobs, Worksafe need to ensure injured workers their right
to RTW is abided by before the employers can sack them simply by waiting the
time out! Worksafe is not committed at all, if they are only RTW 11% of all injured
workers!!!!

Come on Mr Boehm you need to do better than that! This is not being transparent
at all.