AWU asks why health complaints of Brisbane and Southern Qld aged care workers are ignored?

30 June 2010

Aged care workers in South East Queensland are calling for more awareness of the hazards and risks they face and the need for their union, aged care centres and the Federal Government to work co-operatively together.

“ The AWU will be conducting meetings with aged care workers so that, with their help, we can construct an accurate survey to measure perceptions and ideas about their work, its special difficulties and possible improvements,” Bill Ludwig, AWU National President and Queensland Secretary, said.

Too little done about worker safety concerns in aged care sector

 “ We already know that  approximately half of all health industry work injuries come out of the aged care centres – but relatively little is done about safety concerns in this sector of the health industry.

 “ To turn around the stark 50% figure the AWU is keen to create a new consensus about the correct number of workers needed to deliver services in aged care centres.

 “ Too much of the decision-making about this issue is done without involving the workers themselves,” Bill Ludwig said.

' The AWU in Queensland has developed a comprehensive approach to address the key issues in the industry.

Unpaid overtime should be tackled as a workplace safety issue

“ We need to work on ending the low-paid status of the industry, fix up the workloads ( which lead to a lot of injuries) and fix up workplace safety standards.

“The unpaid overtime in Aged Care where staff start early and finish late needs to be tackled as part of our workplace safety strategy.

“ Our members tell us that back injuries come when workers use incorrect techniques because they are rushed to get things done, or because there are just not enough staff to do all the work.

Campaign to upgrade protections for aged care workers starts July 1

“ Union officials in Brisbane and across Southern Queensland are, in coming days and weeks,  talking with aged care workers about the hazards they face as we seek to upgrade the protections available for these low-paid workers,” Bill Ludwig said.

 “ Right now we’ve got a dozen  organisers out on the road getting more information from aged care workers to ask them their views about OHS standards on the job so we can campaign for specific improvements for Queensland workers.

 “ The needs of this low-paid workforce are special to this industry. It is a largely female and older workforce concentrated in aged care homes where the notion of proper risk assessment and management  for employees is unfortunately often overlooked.

Abuse, violence from centre residents accounts for 20% of workplace injuries

 “ These workers often have to deal with difficult residents who are generally helpless and dying – unfortunately the psychological and emotional health effect on these workers in this situation is too often overlooked.

 “ Almost 20 per cent of workplace injuries in this sector are associated with abuse and violence from centre residents.

  “ But to get improvements and changes we need input from aged care workers  – we need their examples, their case studies for a possible campaign.

 “ The AWU is hoping to begin the change process in the coming weeks as we fan out to talk to more aged care workers in Brisbane and Southern Queensland,”  Bill Ludwig said.