Page 34 - Australasian Paint & Panel magazine Nov-Dec 2021

People Matter
34
PAINT&PANEL NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021
THIS IS NOT AN ACT!
FOLLOWING THE VICTORIAN ANNOUNCEMENT, DECLARING THAT ‘ESSENTIAL WORKERS’ MUST BE VACCINATED, WE ASKED GARY WILCOX OF MONIT, FOR SOME CLARIFICATION.
T
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HE RECENT DECISION BY THE
Victorian government to man- ate Covid-19 vaccinations for horised providers and author-
ised workers who are not working from home raises many questions around current Acts and policies.
In case you are not sure, a collision repair shop is an authorised provider. For shops outside of Victoria that do not require their workers to be vacci- nated then read on as your position may only be a temporary stay.
or a member of the police. Therefore, in most cases for a collision repair shop owner to enforce the mandate, they would need to step outside the law and do it themselves or have the police or health officer present when determining whether a worker has been vaccinated or not. So, what are the consequences if
you do not enforce mandatory vaccina- tions for your business?
Well, just prior to the Victorian Gov- ernment announcing this new public health order, the fine for an individual
orders and a worker becomes injured from getting vaccinated?
WorkSafe Victoria’s response is that an employee may be entitled to workers com- pensation if they sustain an injury due to the COVID vaccine and the injury oc- curred out of, or in the course of, employ- ment. The vaccine may be considered to have occurred out of, or in the course of, employment if they are a front-line worker or work in an industry where their em- ployer imposes the vaccine and the em- ployer has: recommended or organised the vaccination onsite or at another loca- tion; or subsidised the vaccination
Under legislation, only a significant re- action to the vaccine may be considered an injury. More significant reactions could include severe fever, blood clots, allergic reactions (anaphylaxis), seizure, or stroke. Workers will not be entitled to compen- sation if they suffer only mild symptoms due to the vaccine, such as feeling tired, headache, nausea, dizziness, or redness where the injection was given.
CIVIL ACTION
An employee has the right to have a lawyer write up a Deed of Indemnity, hand it to an employer mandating vaccinations and the employer would be liable for any loss or in- jury caused to the employee or estate. There is of yet no precedence set for the ability of an estate to claim loss against a business.
INSURANCE
It is common for businesses to take out a Directors and Officers indemnity insur- ance policy to protect them against such litigation; so what does the insurance world say about this? The insurance com- panies have been swift to respond by say- ing they will not cover any injury caused to a worker where their employer mandat- ed a vaccination.
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As a workplace health and safety breaching a public health order in
professional I feel it necessary to re- spond to the concerns collision repair shop owners. I am neither a medical expert or lawyer so this article will not discuss the merits or disadvantag- es of vaccinations but will, instead, be in direct response to the effect it has on our current policies and Acts which govern our world.
The overriding issue with this mandate is that it appears to be in direct conflict with some of our cur- rent policies which govern the busi- ness landscape. It also creates a situ- ation where policies designed to work in unison, are now in conflict.
ENFORCEMENT
Without a uniform framework for business owners to guide them through a maze of legal implications it is difficult for a collision repair shop owner to even know how to enforce these health orders. This mandate can reach as far
as making the shop owner
a law enforcer by instruct-
ing a worker who is unvaccinated to leave the premises because they are now trespassing.
However, a mandate can only be enacted by a health minister
Victoria was increased to $10,904.00.
OH&S
In the past, workplace health and safety professionals would use gov- ernment policies to determine or in- terpret what should be done in a workplace situation. However, be- cause Victoria is in a perpetual state of emergency, giving the Victorian Chief Health Officer unprecedented powers, we can no longer rely solely on the OHS act to help us.
Section 21 of The Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (OHS Act) says: 'Duties of employers to employ- ees. An employer must, so far as is reasonably practicable, provide and maintain for employees of the em- ployer a working environment that is safe and without risks to health.'
Completed studies from around the world have verified that vaccinated workers can still spread the virus. If
this is the case then how does a business owner meet the requirements of Section 21 of the OHS Act by simply refusing only unvaccinated workers to not at-
tend the workplace?
Or, what happens if a collision re-
pair shop follows the health