Monash issued with PIN

Ben Eltham, NTEU Monash Branch President

NTEU Monash University Health & Safety Representative (HSR) Michelle Giovas issued the University with a Provisional Improvement Notice (PIN) in relation to their failure to consult on the return to face-to-face and the University's COVID Safe Plan.

Monash announced they were sending their whole workforce back to campus in January. No-one was asked about this decision. In mid-January, HR promised to consult about that decision before taking it. Four days later, they took it without consulting any staff at all. It took the courage of Michelle (who is also a Branch Committee member) to highlight the issue.

The PIN notice effectively got Monash to actually commencing consultation. Following the issue of the PIN, all-staff emails were sent out calling for views on return-to-work and the COVID Safe Plan; an extroadinary meeting of the top-level OHS Committee was to update the Plan and improve consultation was held; and a formal briefing from Senior Management on the response to the PIN was secured by the HSR and the Union. The PIN resulted in the University making genuine efforts to consult with staff on the return of face-to-face teaching and operations. It’s a shame that it took Union action for the University to properly talk to its staff about OHS issues in the middle of a pandemic.

The genuine consultation has resulted in improvements in the University’s COVID Safe Plan to protect staff, includign the provision of RAT tests and N95 masks to frontline staff. The fact that it took a formal PIN notice to

force Monash management to genuinely consult with staff about a critical safety issue is disappointing.

While we’re happy they now have done so, it highlights that for many Monash managers, the word ‘consultation’ really means ‘announcing a decision’. This is a university full of intelligent and knowledgeable people. Genuine consultation is not informing staff about a decision that has been taken: it’s asking staff what they think beforehand, and then listening to and considering what they say.

Consultation is not just a nice thing to have: it’s essential for staff health and safety. It also actually prevents major stuff-ups. No manager, no matter how skilled, can know every important detail, and no manager can adequately discharge workplace health and safety responsibilities without engaging with the people who need to be protected. ◆

Ben Eltham, NTEU Monash Branch President