Health and Safety training: know your rights
The CWU has received a number of reports of Telstra management querying the rights of Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs) in relation to training.
The reports come at a time when the CWU has been stepping up its efforts in this area to ensure that ALL Telstra HSRs have been trained to the level required to be able to exercise their full rights under current laws.
Here, once more, are the facts:
- If you are an HSR and were elected prior to 1 January 2012 you should by now have done a bridging course to bring you up to speed on the current legislation.
- If you are an HSR and were elected after 1 January 2012 you should by now have received full training on the provisions of the current legislation.
If you are in either of these positions and have not done the required training you need to do so now so as to be able to exercise such rights as issuing a Provisional Improvement Notice (PIN) or directing that work be stopped. While you may seldom, or never take such steps, the ability to do so is an absolutely key part of the HSR role.
You also have the right to attend a training course of your own choosing - and Telstra must pay for it.
Any HSR being given contrary information or being denied access to training should contact either his/her state branch or Dave Smithwick in the Divisional Office.
