Amid a fresh round of bullying allegations at WorkSafe Victoria, the Victorian government has revealed concerns about the workplace watchdog’s internal culture. WorkSafe Minister Gordon Rich-Phillips has asked the WorkSafe board to prepare an assessment about media reports of rampant bullying.

WorkSafe CEO Greg Tweedly yesterday sent an internal memo to employees in order to address the allegations. Without referring directly to bullying, Tweedly linked allegations of “shortcomings in our internal culture” with an ongoing period of organisational change. “It's unfortunate but not surprising that at times we can all find review and change challenging... In some instances change has been accompanied by internal complaints – l assure you these are taken very seriously and reviewed through rigorous and independent processes. As communicated previously, if you have any concerns I urge you to raise them with your direct manager or another manager as appropriate.”

WorkSafe’s 2011 annual report alludes to a number of structural changes in the organisation over the last year, including:

• the introduction of new workplace bullying laws;   
• changes to employer return to work obligations;
• a new process for the initiation of employer prosecutions;
• updated industry classifications; and
• preparation for national occupational health and safety harmonisation.

Karen Batt, the Victorian Secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union, has disputed Tweedly’s analysis. “We know that the VWA is going through change, but... the approach that managers take to handling that change has resulted in staff feeling frightened,” Batt told Fairfax Radio. “Some of them are having post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosed by doctors as a result of the way they’ve been treated. So it’s not change per se; our concern is how the change is being handled by senior managers.”

WorkSafe employees have also hit back at Tweedly’s statement, saying it did nothing to acknowledge the widespread nature of bullying at the authority. Employees state that some human resources staff have been helpful and supportive when responding to bullying claims, but this support evaporates at a senior management level.

Long history of complaints

The Community and Public Sector Union has told the media that it has handled approximately 100 bullying complaints against WorkSafe in the past five years. The CPSU has been alerted to more than 20 cases this year alone, several of which will appear before Fair Work Australia.

In 2009, an employee survey leaked to The Age revealed deep morale problems at the agency. Of the employees surveyed in the investigations division, less than one-third believed that senior managers showed genuine concern about health and safety in their workplace. Two-thirds expressed concern about excessive pressure in their roles, and less than half agreed that WorkSafe maintains high ethical standards. Critically, more than half of the respondents believed their department was not open and honest in its operations, potentially undermining faith in any internal investigation of bullying complaints.

In April, two female employees of WorkSafe’s advisory call centre accused their manager of verbal bullying, based on organisational pressure to answer calls within set timeframes. The accusations were later levelled at a WorkSafe director, based on their lacklustre response to the initial complaint.

Former WorkSafe Health Adviser Jillian Ramsden was dismissed in late July after only two months in her role. During her time there, Ramsden was promoted after only one month and had received no prior warnings about her performance. Ramsden’s sacking came only hours after she lodged a successful WorkCover claim against her employer, alleging that a colleague had screamed at her and constantly undermined her work. Ramsden is currently taking legal action against WorkSafe through Fair Work Australia.

“I’m suing because I want the truth to come out,” Ramsden told the Herald Sun soon after her sacking. “There is a toxic environment at WorkSafe. I had no support. There is a total culture of fear there.”

Ramsden has noted the contrast between WorkSafe’s current advertising campaign against workplace bullying with the shortcomings of its own organisational culture. “What do [the ads] say at the bottom? It doesn’t hurt to speak up,” Ramsden told SBS.

“And that just makes you sick to the pit of your stomach. You see that day in, day out, as you’re travelling to work, to WorkSafe, where your bullying complaints, and the bullying complaints of a whole team of people, are being ignored. I lost a lot of sleep, paced at night, a lot of tears, it’s been really, really detrimental to my health.”

Ramsden’s case is being handled by Maurice Blackburn principal Josh Bornstein. The high-profile lawyer cut his teeth representing the Maritime Union during the 1998 waterfront dispute and Ansett Airlines employees in the aftermath of that company’s collapse.

Bornstein has told SBS that since Ramsden’s case was made public, a raft of current and former WorkSafe employees have contacted him with similar complaints about WorkSafe’s culture.

Calls for grievance process overhaul

At present, WorkSafe hires external contractors to investigate internal bullying complaints. The CPSU says that because the contractors are commissioned by WorkSafe, they cannot be relied upon to come to a truly independent conclusion about bullying cases.

Karen Batt says a more fundamental shift is needed: “We believe that there needs to be a wholesale review of the operation of internal grievance management in relation to bullying. We need to look at setting up a process involving the heads of jurisdictions signing off on allowing inspectors from other jurisdictions coming in to investigate complaints in their own workplace."

While the complaints process is being reviewed, CEO Greg Tweedly should treat bullying accusations with the utmost seriousness. Tweedly is ultimately responsible for setting the tone of the organisation's internal culture. Tweedly's efforts to rebut The Age's reports of bullying blamed the problems of WorkSafe's "internal culture" on the pressures of organisational change. This account does nothing to address the central allegation of  numerous current and former employees of WorkSafe quoted in the media, who have laid the blame for a flourishing culture of bullying directly at the feet of WorkSafe's senior management team.

We at Return to Work Matters hope that the increased scrutiny of WorkSafe Victoria eventually leads to a positive organisational change. Just as Tweedly is responsible for the tone of the organisation under his charge, WorkSafe sets the tone for the rehabilitation and compensation authorities it regulates. If the lead agency in the return to work process is not working in a harmonious manner, it will be difficult for the organisation to expect high standards of employers at the coal face, and to speak with authority against workplace bullying in the future.