Two scathing reports have found Ambulance Victoria failed to fix a workplace crisis blamed for damaging the health of staff at a call centre and potentially threatening public safety.
The WorkSafe report confirms investigators spoke to Ambulance Victoria staff and management last week, and that plans to train more staff had not begun. It found the call-centre staff were exposed to high levels of risk with “inadequate support from leadership, work overload, low job control, vicarious trauma, and a lack of organisational justice”.
Two WorkSafe inspectors visited the Ballarat centre on Thursday last week and found the “improvement notice” issued in December had not been adequately addressed. The watchdog plans to return on July 8 to check progress, and the report confirms there is “potential for prosecution”.That, the ambulance union claims, could lead to fines approaching $2 million if proved in the Magistrates’ Court.
Ambulance Victoria executive director for operational communications Anthony Carlyon agreed there were “workforce challenges”.“We will not allow patient safety nor the welfare of our people to be compromised,” he said.