WorkSafe ACT has slapped Improvement and Prohibition Notices on the ACT government due to further injuries and assaults of Dhulwa Mental Health Unit staff.

“These are damaging findings by the safety regulator, and the minister and those responsible for the management of Dhulwa must not escape scrutiny,” said Matthew Daniel, branch secretary of the Australian Nursing Midwifery Federation ACT.

“WorkSafe ACT believes there are contraventions of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 or that it’s likely that contraventions will continue to be repeated with is a reasonable belief that a serious risk to the health or safety of Dhulwa workers exists because of exposure to an immediate or imminent exposure to a hazard.

“The regulator also noted that control measures in place for occupational violence hazards failed to protect a worker and that the worker was exposed to physical and psychological risk.”

“The ANMF welcomes the intervention of WorkSafe ACT but is disappointed in the ACT government for not addressing the concerns of nurses sooner.

“Significant questions about accountability remain and nurses deserve an explanation as to why they have been blamed for occupational violence for so long when, in fact, it has been found that the government has failed to keep Dhulwa workers safe.

“The ANMF continues to call for an urgent inquiry by the ACT Government into the operations of Dhulwa.”