News

WorkSafe Victoria has issued multiple Improvement Notices to Triple Zero Victoria (TZV) following a series of inspections into psychosocial hazards affecting Emergency Communications Officers (ECOs).  For Ambulance call takers and dispatchers, the most significant findings relate to exposure to traumatic content and events and failures in incident reporting and investigation systems.

WorkSafe found that TZV has failed to adequately control risks associated with traumatic exposure and psychological hazards experienced by ECOs. The regulator noted that: “There is evidence that there are significant levels of exposure.”

WorkSafe identified that ECOs are exposed to traumatic events and content multiple times during every shift, with evidence of cumulative exposure across shifts and over time.

The regulator also found that: “Existing controls are heavily reliant on employees reaching out” and that: “Existing monitoring is latent, uncoordinated, and does not have clear thresholds/responses for action.”

In relation to incident management, WorkSafe found TZV had received numerous reports relating to psychological hazards but had failed to adequately investigate them, relying heavily on individual supports rather than identifying and addressing workplace causes. WorkSafe concluded that psychological incidents were not being used effectively to identify contributing organisational factors, system failures and preventative controls.

The notices recognise that psychological injuries are rarely caused by a single event. They often arise from the combined effects of traumatic exposure, repeated exposure, workload, fatigue, insufficient recovery time and workplace systems that fail to adequately identify and control risk.

WorkSafe has directed TZV to:

• Improve its incident reporting and investigation systems.
• Properly investigate psychological incidents and identify root causes.
• Monitor cumulative exposure to traumatic calls and content.
• Implement proactive systems for identifying workers at risk.
• Introduce regular reflective practice and supervision by appropriately qualified clinicians.
• Review and strengthen controls designed to prevent psychological harm before injuries occur.

One of the most significant findings was WorkSafe’s view that organisations should move beyond simply waiting for workers to seek help after they have been affected and instead proactively identify and manage cumulative traumatic exposure.

A third Improvement Notice was issued regarding high job demands affecting Police Dispatchers at Williams Landing. This notice relates specifically to Police Dispatch operations and is separate to the broader findings regarding traumatic exposure and incident investigation that affect Ambulance ECOs and other communication officers across TZV.

Each Improvement Notice reminds TZV of its obligations under section 115(2) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004.

The notices state that TZV must:

1. bring the notices to the attention of all affected workers;
2. provide copies to affected HSRs; and
3. display the notices in a prominent location in the workplace

What Members Can Do

The WorkSafe notices highlight the importance of reporting psychosocial hazards and traumatic exposures.

The VAU encourages members to:

• Submit incident reports when exposed to traumatic or psychologically hazardous events (so no injury needs to have occurred, but the exposure should be reported too).
• Keep records of repeated traumatic exposure, workload concerns and unsupported incidents.
• Report psychosocial hazards and systemic issues to the VAU via “Report an Issue” QR code.
• Raise concerns with your HSR, if you have one. HSRs have legal powers under the OHS Act 2004 to represent workers on health and safety matters, including powers around consultation, inspections, provisional improvement notices and unsafe work. Where HSR positions are vacant (refer to final page of bulletin), members should consider nominating, filled HSR positions give workers a stronger voice and greater ability to push TZV to fix unsafe systems.
• Encourage non-members to join the union so workers have a stronger collective voice in pushing for safer systems of work.

We Want to Hear From You

WorkSafe’s findings reinforce that psychological health and safety is a workplace issue, not an individual resilience issue. The stronger our collective evidence, the stronger our ability to hold TZV accountable for implementing meaningful controls.

If you have concerns about traumatic exposure, cumulative workload, psychosocial hazards or psychological health at TZV, please contact the VAU.

Have you experienced repeated exposure to traumatic calls? Have you raised concerns that were not addressed? Have you seen these Improvement Notices displayed as required by law? Let us know.

HSR posters should be clearly displayed within each SECC and available on the TZV intranet. These posters must be updated to ensure employees are aware of who their representatives are. If you have recently been appointed, altered crews or ceased your tenure as an HSR, then please ensure you have notified TZV’s Safety Team to ensure HSR posters are current.