Nick Wood. Photo: Christopher Hopkins
‘I love it. Like any workplace, there have been challenges, but it’s a nice place to have landed.’
Registered nurse Nick Wood works in a public sector health independence program, focused on improving people’s management of their own health. It’s very fulfilling, he says.
‘I work with people who have multiple comorbidities or just one chronic disease. But there could be lots of barriers for them in accessing healthcare, whether those be language, mental health or health literacy related. We connect them with appropriate resources, give education where we can etc.’
While there are plenty of positives, as Nick notes there have been some challenges.
Hence, when his colleagues nominated Nick to be their health and safety representative (HSR), he accepted. He believes his nomination occurred because he had ‘already unofficially been doing HSR stuff’.
As a new staff member several years ago, for instance, he had asked why certain things were done the way they were done.
‘Because I was new and I was learning the role, I brought a different lens to things, and it was perhaps more obvious to me what the issues were. So I felt confident to ask the service manager: “why have these things not been addressed?”
‘She said to me later that this was one of the things that made me a good candidate for the HSR role.’
In other workplaces, Nick had sometimes felt like he was sticking his neck out for asking such questions. ‘But even though I’m not a particularly confident person, I’ve always felt confident addressing things that just aren’t right,’ he says. ‘Even if it’s uncomfortable, if you don’t speak up things will get worse.’
Once he officially became an HSR, however, he noticed a ‘huge difference’.
‘Once I’d done the training, I was able to discuss issues and rationalise them utilising relevant sections within the Act.
The way that leadership communicated with me changed. That in itself was a major win for me.’
Everyone respects the position, he feels, because they know that his questions and requests as an HSR ‘come from the right place.’
Day to day for Nick the role varies. ‘There’ll be days where there’s no active tasks as an HSR, but you’re always just watching what’s happening, keeping your eyes and ears out for any issues.’
When there is an issue, it might lead to an email to the service manager just to highlight it, or helping a colleague complete a RiskMan, for example. Ultimately, the goal is to resolve the issue and, where possible, to make change so that it doesn’t recur.
He gives an example. ‘We’re a community program. We use hospital vehicles. The health service had logos on the vehicles and colleagues had some concerns around privacy: patients may not necessarily want their neighbours knowing that they are receiving care, for example.’
So Nick started conversations. He collected data. He checked with his colleagues in the hospital in the home and mental health teams, who also do community visits, in order to further investigate the risk.
‘And then, unfortunately, we had an OVA incident in the community: one of our colleagues was attending to someone who was homeless and staying by the riverbank in a more affluent area. Several neighbours approached our staff member – who knew they were there because of the branding on the vehicle – and started accusing them of enabling this homeless person’s situation. It was quite intimidating.’
So what started out as a privacy issue became one of safety as well. Nick surveyed his colleagues, who overwhelmingly wanted the cars de-branded. ‘Within the month, everything was de-branded. It felt good. People felt heard, and we were able to celebrate.’
Nick is proud to be an HSR. ‘It’s nice knowing you can make a difference and that you’ve got people wanting you to represent them. I think it’s an honour,’ he says.
He encourages others to consider the role too. ‘If someone’s approached you to be nominated, it’s because they trust you to represent them. Take that trust and draw from it, as well as your own strength. When your organisation sees HSR numbers increasing, that will change the way that they address health and safety issues.’
