WorkSafe kept in the dark for 10 days about Cedar Meats outbreak  

The Victorian Health Department took 10 days to notify WorkSafe that an inspector could have been exposed to COVID-19 at Cedar Meats.

Appearing before the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee today, WorkSafe CEO, Colin Radford gave evidence that despite one of his workers attending the Cedar Meats site on April 23 to investigate an incident involving a worker who later tested positive to Coronavirus, he was not alerted about the outbreak until May 4.

The State Government arrogantly refused to name the site of the Cedar Meats outbreak for far too long, potentially placing lives at risk.

The mass cluster of infections at Cedar Meats now stands at almost 100 cases and is Victoria’s largest Coronavirus outbreak.

This failure by the State Government to name the location of the Cedar Meats outbreak and to advise WorkSafe of the potential exposure of one of its employees is too big a failure for Daniel Andrews to ignore.

Comments attributable to Shadow Minister for Workplace Safety, Nick Wakeling:

“Revelations about the State Government’s scandalous handling of the Cedar Meats cluster continue to go from bad to worse.

“How on earth could 10 days have passed before WorkSafe was notified of the potential exposure of one its employees and why did the State Government refuse to name Cedar Meats as the site?

“There must be an independent investigation into the handling of the Cedar Meats outbreak – Victorians deserve to know the truth.”

 

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