PRISON SECURITY BREACH OPENS WINDOW ON WORLD OF WORKSITE SAFETY | Public Sector Review | August 2023

An embarrassing and potentially dangerous security breach at Port Augusta Prison earlier this year left PSA members genuinely fearing for their safety, resulting in a dispute with the Department for Correctional Services (DCS).

The prison was placed into lockdown for several days in May, with prison staff suggesting the Department had not adequately responded to the issue.

Prisoners had been removing windows from the high-security Saltbush accommodation block to escape and retrieve contraband items such as mobile phones, drugs and weapons from prison grounds at night.

PSA members ceased unsafe work under the Work Health and Safety Act 2012, demanding that prison management make their worksite safe.

Prior to our members ceasing work under the Work Health and Safety Act, DCS pledged to fully investigate and resolve the issue.

The Department was unable to provide Correctional Officers with adequate detail

and commitment to the implementation of remedial works to make the Saltbush unit at the prison safe and secure.

Correctional Officers rightly refused to unlock the prison while their safety remained at risk. The Department lodged a dispute in the South Australian Employment Tribunal (SAET) over our members’ decision to cease unsafe work at the Port Augusta Prison.

The Tribunal Commissioner made a series of consent orders, including that the Department would undertake a program of works to ensure the accommodation units were safe and secure for our members to resume work.

The Tribunal orders specified that the works be done within a specific timeframe.

The initial lockdown was lifted on 25 May 2023, however on the night of 30 May 2023, some Correctional Services Officers assigned to the Saltbush block again ceased unsafe work on health and safety grounds, prompting the Department to lodge a dispute with the SAET on 31 May. After several hours in the SAET, the matter was adjourned while the Department considered its options.

PSA General Secretary Natasha Brown said the incident and the Department’s initial cursory response highlighted many of the ongoing issues with prison management in South Australia.

Our members had raised concerns about these serious security breaches, and the safety risks they presented, to the Department previously, but the response had been superficial, verging on dismissive,

she said.

“Safety is the absolute number one priority for our members. When they raise these types of issues with the department they don’t expect to be fobbed off.

“All workers in South Australia have a right to cease work if they believe the work they are being asked to do poses a risk to their health and safety.”

PSA members will continue to monitor the steps the Department is taking to make the Saltbush Unit secure. Their safety depends on it.