Legal experts say this 'could lead to more prosecutions' of the same kind
An employer faces workplace health and safety violations after an investigation showed that it exposed its employees and clients to a COVID-19 outbreak.
WorkSafe Victoria formally charged an aged-care facility with three breaches of the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act following the said outbreak in its residential area, a media release reported.
How the ‘deadly outbreak’ happened
According to the workplace health and safety regulator, between 13 March 2020 and 20 July 2020, an outbreak allegedly happened in Heritage Care following the failure of the provider to train its staff concerning:
- Items of personal protective equipment (PPE) mandatory to be worn
- Safe donning and doffing of PPE
- When PPE should be changed
- The safe disposal of PPE
During the COVID-19 outbreak, WorkSafe reported that 89 residents and 69 staff suffered from COVID-19, and 34 residents of the facility died from COVID-19-related complications.
“Heritage Care has been charged with a breach of sections 21(1) and 21(2)(e) of the OHS Act, in that it failed to provide such training as necessary to enable its employees to perform their work safely and without risks to health,” WorkSafe said.
It further charged the aged-care provider with the violation of Sec.23 of the OHS Act because it failed to ensure, as far as reasonably practicable, that persons aside from its employees were “not exposed to risks to their health or safety arising from conduct of its undertaking.”
Moreover, WorkSafe also charged HealthCare with a breach of Sec. 26 of the OHS Act in that it failed to guarantee, so far as reasonably practicable, that the workplace was safe and without health risks.
“The maximum penalty for a body corporate for each of these offences is a fine of 9000 penalty points ($1.49 million at the time of the alleged offence),” WorkSafe said. “This complex investigation took 22 months to complete and involved reviewing thousands of pages of documents and multiple witness interviews.”
Additionally, the workplace health and safety regulator also said it looked upon the “Communicable Diseases Network Australia’s National Guidelines for the Prevention, Control and Public Health Management of COVID-19 Outbreaks in Residential Care Facilities in Australia,” published in March 2020 and updated in April 2020, noting that the guidelines “provided relevant context and information that informed parts of the investigation.”
“The matter is listed for a filing hearing at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 8 August and WorkSafe will not be providing further comment, as the matter is now before the court,” WorkSafe said.
Warning for employers
According to EMA Legal, the case of the aged facility serves as a reminder for employers that while COVID-19 restrictions have eased, the state still records thousands of positive COVID-19 cases daily, presenting work health and safety risks.
“Employers need to ensure they continue to take all steps, as far as reasonably practicable, to manage the risks of a potential outbreak,” EMA Legal said in a media release.
The law firm also said that the prosecution was one of the first brought about by the failure to manage a COVID-19 outbreak. It warned employers that depending on the outcome, this incident could result in more prosecution of the same kind, including in other jurisdictions.
