You’d know better than anyone that there’s always periods where it’s busier than others working in health, especially when there’s unplanned staff absences during the sniffly season or if there’s an influx of patients and there’s extra work.
But what shouldn’t be normal is that you’re so short-staffed that you’re routinely pulling doubles, working constant overtime, or not taking proper breaks.
Just because you work in healthcare doesn’t mean that stress and high workloads are part of the job, and your employer has an obligation to make sure that you’re safe and adequately staffed at work.
Let’s be clear, short staffing is a safety issue both for your physical and your mental health and you don’t have to grin and just bear it.
One way we can help make sure that you’re getting the support you need is through workload forms.
Workload forms are often underutilised, and a lot of people don’t always like doing them, but they are one way we can document and show clear proof to management about what’s happening in your area when it comes to safety and staffing, especially in the lead up to your union workload consultative meetings where management have to go through these forms.
We encourage you to make a report every time there’s understaffing, inadequate skill mix or excessive workloads and to send them to us also, because if it’s a continuing issue in specific areas it helps us gather evidence to be able to take further action and make sure your employer sticks to workplace health and safety laws.
You can either Cc us in on [email protected] if you’re submitting them electronically, or scan and send a copy to the same address so that we know what’s going on and can make a plan with you about your specific area.
If we have enough documentation that there are recurring issues happening in certain areas often, we have powers under the workplace health and safety regulations to investigate and make sure that control measures are being put in place – but we need clear evidence first, so please make sure you keep documenting and keep us in the loop.
As your union we’ll always fight to make sure there’s safe staffing for everyone in the hospital whether you’re in physio, kitchen, cleaning, nursing, CSD or admin, because you’re all vital in making sure the hospital stays running and you all deserve to be happy and safe at work.