Government Cuts – Lives of workers at risk from latest WorkSafe restructure plan

– Workplace Inspectors to lose vital support

– Net 40 roles proposed to go

– Cuts follow 113 jobs axed last November

The critical job of WorkSafe to save lives and reduce injuries will be undermined by its latest proposed restructure, the PSA warns.

WorkSafe, the workplace health and safety regulator, is consulting staff on the second major restructure in a year which proposes to axe 180 roles. While some new roles will be created this would still result in a net loss of 40 roles and follows 113 roles being axed last November.

A range of roles are being cut – health specialists, advisors, researchers, evaluators and legal kaimahi who support WorkSafe inspectors and whose role is to educate businesses, provide assessment support to workplaces and protect workers from poor health and safety practices.

“This is a flawed plan which strips WorkSafe of critical roles. This will undermine the ability of frontline WorkSafe inspectors to do their vital work, so workers return home safe and healthy,” said Duane Leo Secretary for Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi.

“Once again, we see the fiction of the Government’s promise of no impacts on the frontline. It’s another broken promise.

“We already have a poor health and safety record in this country with a fatality rate double that of Australia. The Government should be investing more not less in this critical agency.

“It’s a huge concern that the health team is being downsized with the loss of specialist skills. This team is relatively new and was playing a key role in dealing with a range of issues in the workplace like mental health.

“We know stress in the workplace is growing. 12% of suicides are work related, and there are some 5000 hospitalisations each year due to work-related ill-health. Managing health risks should be a priority, not downsizing a team playing a vital role at a time when work-related health risks are higher than safety risks.

“WorkSafe is also proposing to increase the numbers of inspectors but by not nearly enough to meet the high turnover already and well below that of Australia, hampering our ability to make serious inroads into our appalling safety record.

“The changes proposed will only pile more work on the shoulders of inspectors.

“For example, under this proposal, cuts to the legal team will force inspectors to spend more time gathering documents to support prosecutions. This risks undermining the ability of WorkSafe to properly hold offenders to account.

“This is a return to the failed approach of the past; inspectors will be bogged down by paperwork once again when they need to be supported by a solid team of specialists.

“It makes no sense that this is all happening when the Government has yet to complete its review of the health and safety system – why not wait and get it right once and for all?

“Yet again, we are seeing the Government putting the bottom line first, favouring tax breaks for landlords and big tobacco over investing in a frontline agency that saves lives,” said Duane Leo.