At our most recent meeting, the Monaro Sub Branch in the ACT welcomed a guest speaker from Worksafe ACT who spoke about health and safety representatives (HSRs) in schools and the structure of a health and safety committee.
I have been attempting to get this structure up and running at my school and this term we have managed to break into work groups and elect HSRs for each group. We look forward to our HSRs receiving training, and to experiencing their first health and safety committee in the new year.
You may wonder why I am so keen for this, and the simple answer is, ‘agency’. There are far too many aspects of our working lives where we have no agency, where our voice isn’t heard.
The HSR structure allows workers to speak about the way their safety is maintained. In a world where we are still coming to grips with workplace issues such as psychosocial harm, having a robust HSR network in a workplace has the potential to deal with issues sooner and more effectively.
We are seeing far too many teachers leaving the profession and many of these say that the working conditions just became ‘too much’. In the ACT (like everywhere else) we are feeling the pinch of the teacher shortage, and it is important that we safeguard the workers that remain from being unreasonably burdened by the shortfall of staff.
The union provides a voice for workers and the excellent work that is currently underway regarding multi-enterprise agreements in NSW and ACT, are one way to ensure that our conditions safeguard our longevity in the workplace. Perhaps having active HSRs is another way of protecting our future, by protecting our staff from harm.
With Advent upon us and Christmas rapidly approaching, I’d like to wish you all a joyful season, a much-needed rest and recharge, and a fantastic New Year.