PPS's ACC Partnership Plan
(a.k.a. The Emperor's New Clothes!)

Those of us who have tried to assist PPS in the development of the ACC Partnership Plan were not in the least surprised to hear that they have yet again failed ACC's compliance audit. I say "yet again", because this is the second successive year that they have failed!

I would hasten to add that they have not only failed; they have failed miserably! Now I'm sure that the powers that be will both deny and criticise this claim within the week, but from where I sit, it's this simple:

If you get measured against 19 critical elements in terms of Health & Safety and you fail in 8 of those elements, then you've failed miserably!

Before I continue, though, it's only fair that I put this in context, because it's not just PPS that's failed - it's the whole Department of Corrections! Having said that, I should also point out that CANZ only has a relationship with two of the Department's Services - PPS and CIE.

Now you may wonder why I have singled PPS out for special criticism when CIE would also appear to be in the same boat! Well folks, the answer is simple - CIE has gone out of its way to work with CANZ in an attempt to improve workplace Health & Safety and PPS hasn't!

In May of this year, CANZ put detailed proposals to both PPS and CIE regarding a partnership approach to Health & Safety under the ACC Partnership Plan. CIE immediately recognised the importance of working with the representatives of the majority of their employers and responded positively within a matter of days. As a result of this, we have effective structures in place pursuant to the requirements of the Partnership Plan and we have already met at National level to discuss what measures we need to take to ensure that any shortcomings identified during the audit are rectified.

PPS, on the other hand, have taken an entirely different approach! Not only have they not responded to CANZ's proposals; they also continue to challenge CANZ's understanding of our role in the partnership. In other words, The Emperor continues to fiddle and Rome continues to burn!

From where I'm standing, I would respectfully suggest that PPS's priorities on this issue are "arse about face"! Their Health & Safety systems appear to be in tatters, (or so the ACC audit seems to indicate) yet they continue to debate the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders in the deal. I suppose it's a little akin to rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic - they're just taking a little longer to sink, that's all!

So why am I so concerned about PPS, you may ask? Well as usual, I'm going to tell you!
1. The Department gets an "up front" seven-figure payment from ACC for participating in the programme.
2. In return for this, each Service is required to comply with the terms of the partnership.
3. PPS continues to adopt a supercilious approach to CANZ's attempts at establishing a partnership in respect of this issue.
4. I believe that this is a major contributing factor to the Department's on-going failure to comply.
5. PPS's dogged determination to adopt the "Lone Ranger" approach to workplace Health & Safety will probably result in the proliferation of more paperwork containing unilateral statements regarding the responsibilities of the lowest common denominator - that's you, folks!
6. If they progress in a manner that's true to form, these bits of paper will be used in the not-too-distant future to discipline any poor sod that hasn't read it and, as a result, does something that's breaches the provisions of their latest unilateral policy statement.
Is there a way out of the current quagmire? Of course there is, but it would require PPS to eat a major portion of humble pie and work more cooperatively with CANZ. Unfortunately, history would suggest that we have more chance of being struck by lightning than experiencing such a turn-around by PPS. Accordingly, they will probably continue to stumble blindly on in the vain hope that "she'll be right, mate!"

Personally, I venture to suggest that they need to take a step back and refocus on the issue; after all,
When you're up to your courting tackle in crocodiles, it's sometimes difficult to remember that your initial objective was to drain the swamp!

From CANZ's perspective, we continue to be prepared to work with PPS in a meaningful relationship that's based on equity, but in the absence of such a relationship, we will have no other option than to take the " compliance" path. Accordingly, I will be recommending that we begin early in the New Year with issues such as:
· Health Monitoring
· The issuing of bleach tablets
· VDU work station compliance
· Workplace lighting
· Atmospheric conditions
· Hazardous substance storage
· Safe stacking and storage
· Garbage storage and disposal
- to name but a few!
As I've said previously, we don't want to adopt this approach, but if we can't deal with issues cooperatively, then there aren't many other options available to us. The ball is in their court!

Christmas Union Coverage
I will be the on-call Organiser for the holiday period and can be contacted on my mobile phone for issues that require urgent attention. My number is: 0274 401320. If you require assistance, just leave a message and I will get back to you within the day!

In closing, I would like to thank all our members for their assistance and support and I wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Regards,

Brian Davies
National Organiser