PIN’s Update - Five (5) Provisional Improvement Notices (PIN’s) were issued by a sheriff HSR in late November 2011 about the Sheriff Officer’s communication and safety duress system.  The PIN’s identified the following health and safety issues:

o    Reliability of input of badge and radio system to activate in-vehicle repeater (IVR)
o    Difficulties with portable radio’s communicating with the Comms centre
o    Difficulties with the ability to use the duress button on the radios
o    The ability to accurately locate a sheriff officer during a duress call
o    The reliability of the radio system to send a duress call at all times

DOJ appealed the PIN’s, and WorkSafe made a determination that the PIN’s were relevant and affirmed the PIN’s with additional time granted (6 months) to allow DOJ to comply.

In affirming, the PIN’s became no longer provisional and therefore endorsed by WorkSafe Victoria.  

WorkSafe then issued a further Improvement Notice on the duress response protocol.

This was complied with by the development of a new script for the sheriff communication centre staff.

HSR extends PIN’s

The sheriff HSR extended the PIN’s twice in good faith on the basis that DOJ would investigate and implement an upgrading of the communication/duress system.

NEC had provided a solution for DoJ to the identified problems and provided costings for an upgraded communications and duress system.

CPSU’s believes the upgraded communication/duress system solution was progressed as a brief by the Department for consideration by the Minister.

Gov’t Says NO

CPSU’s believes it was not approved on financial grounds with the Department directed to reconsider existing options.
 
In mid-November last year DOJ prepared a detailed report on their position in relation to their non-compliance with WorkSafe’s affirmed Improvement Notices.

A meeting took place in early December involving the HSR where DOJ presented their documentation to WorkSafe and CPSU.

WorkSafe were concerned that DOJ had failed to discuss their report with the HSR prior to this meeting.  The DOJ report did not unfortunately did not even acknowledge any consideration of the upgrading of the radio/duress system as a solution which had involved significant work and input with the HSR and other sheriffs.
 
Onus Shift

The focus of their report was to only seek compliance by enforcement of administration controls (therefore putting the onus of safety back on individual Sheriffs).

DoJ’s report states

  “This will involve a zero tolerance compliance standard for officers and operators to highlight the importance of these procedures.  In relation to officers, this standard will apply to failure to associate their badge ID and HHP radio, failing to activate IVR, and failing to undertake training in the duress options available in relation to the radio system”.

The sheriff HSR has met and informed the Deputy Sheriff that the detailed report provided suggests administrative controls, and adopting a zero tolerance towards officers to solve the safety concerns.

The safe system identified in the DOJ report is the same system that was presented to the HSR and WorkSafe and CPSU and was rejected when the PIN’s were affirmed by WorkSafe.

Non-Compliance Now Notified

Due to the time extension on the affirmed Improvement Notices until 31 December 2012 now having expired, the sheriff HSR has notified WorkSafe of DOJ’s non-compliance with these affirmed Notices under Section 63(6) of the OH&S Act 2004.

It is CPSU’s position in light of DOJ’s inaction on this matter that we strongly recommend that Sheriff Officers utilise one of the clearly identified controls in that document being the availability to undertake “LEAP profiles of defendants”.

In line with DoJ’s document and until the Notices are resolved, CPSU recommends that a LEAP check be conducted first, any time a Sheriff’s Officer is going to contact a Defendant/Judgement Debtor.  If that check reveals any possible risk, the Officer must not contact that person and advise their supervisor that further protective actions need to be taken.

The department supports working 2 up for high risk warrant executions as specified in section 10.18 of the Manual.

CPSU believes therefore that Sheriffs undertaking the following duties must undertake this work in at least a 2 up arrangement.

•    Executing warrants for collection of goods on defendants
•    Executing warrants for arrests of defendants
•    Arresting defendants for transportation to police station
•    Searching defendants prior to transportation to police station

Also broadening the situations where sheriffs work 2 up could also be an interim solution.  An example of this could be where a sheriff can’t park their vehicle close to the warrant address i.e. high rise buildings and etc.

In light of the recent Protective Services Officer serious assault we are confident that WorkSafe will ensure that DOJ will upgrade their unsafe systems of work before a Sheriff Officer suffers a similar incident.

CPSU will be working with Sheriff HSR’s in seeking a detailed investigation by WorkSafe into these non-complied Notices to deliver further safety improvements to our Sheriffs systems of work.

For further information or advice contact Carl Marsich CPSU OH&S officer on 9639 1822 or email cmarsich@cpsuvic.org



Friday 11th January 2013