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MEDIA RELEASES WORKCOVER STAFFING Issued 3.12.02 Independent candidate for the seat of Tamworth Peter Draper has raised a serious problem regarding staffing levels at the Tamworth office of Workcover with the Hon John Della Bosca in his capacity of Special Minister for State. "I have been advised that the Tamworth office has previously been staffed by three Inspectors, however in June 2001 one of the Inspectors was involved in a serious motor vehicle accident and has been unable to perform any duties associated with his position since," Mr Draper said. "It appears clear that although the Inspector has not as yet been declared eligible for retirement on medical grounds, he will be unable to resume his position in Tamworth in the future, as he is now residing in Sydney with a full time carer." The department appears to have a policy whereby replacement staff are not appointed until the affected staff member is medically retired, and this policy is placing the remaining Inspectors under undue pressure. One of the remaining Inspectors regularly relieves elsewhere in the state whenever a relief position that will allow him to gain additional experience becomes available. This leaves the Tamworth office with only one Inspector, as does one person being absent on annual leave, long service leave or sick leave. Recently one Inspector was in Sydney and the other on leave so there was only the office support staff member available. "While appreciating that the Department would provide another Inspector from a district outside the Tamworth region should the need arise, I am concerned that this would place undue pressure on another districts resources," Mr. Draper said. It has been reported to Mr. Draper that in the Northern area (which includes Newcastle, Toronto, Port Macquarie, Grafton, Lismore, Tweed Heads, Tamworth and Narrabri), some 40 Inspectors are allocated to cover these areas. At present, reports indicate that approximately 12 Inspectors are unavailable through sick leave, stress leave, long service leave or because they are acting in other roles in Sydney. "I believe that given this reported shortage, the Department should consider appointing replacement personnel using different guidelines to the current framework. There appears to be a significant shortage of frontline staff at present," Mr Draper said. There are other areas affected by the shortage of staff in the Tamworth office. A representative of Workcover previously assisted the local Farmsafe committee, but due to the current workload they are no longer available. "Given the effects of the drought on farm finances and subsequent work practices, Workcover input to avoid possible problems would make a great deal of sense," said Mr Draper. " I am is awaiting Mr. Della Bosca's response to this serious issue." End Release |