Your employer has a responsibility to take all reasonable measures to ensure that your health and safety is protected at work.
For some people, bushfire smoke may present a serious risk to health and safety due to their personal health circumstances. When air quality is particularly low and poses a general health hazard, or the nature of work requires physical exertion outside or in a contaminated environment, everyone should take measures to reduce exposure and reduce risk.
You have the right to refuse to do work which poses a serious risk to your health and safety. Your employer can't force you to do work which is unsafe or unhealthy nor can they force you to do work in an unsafe or unhealthy environment.
If you do not think it is safe for you to work, you should let your employer know and ask them to provide you with alternative duties or an alternative working environment where the risk is sufficiently reduced. Let them know that you are concerned for your health and safety and talk to them about how the work and the environment can be changed or adapted to sufficiently reduce the risk.
Your employer should regularly monitor air quality via the ACT Health website and take action to make sure workers are not exposed to hazardous levels of smoke. Depending how bad the air quality is, this action might include:
stopping work
closing the workplace
relocating work
doing only essential work
providing more breaks and other supports
ensuring doors and windows aren't opened unnecessarily
installing an air purifier
providing personal protective equipment (PPE).
Note: PPE such as masks is not necessarily effective and is not suitable for all conditions, and it is very important that it is used properly and you only use PPE you have been trained to use.
If you feel too sick to work, you should stop work and seek medical attention if needed. This applies any time you are sick at work! If you suffer smoke inhalation symptoms while at work you should fill in a Work Health and Safety incident report.
Sometimes it’s hard to know what is reasonable to do when you think there might be a risk to your health and safety at work. If you are in immediate danger, or there is an immediate hazard, you should stop work. Let your employer know about the issue and seek assistance. Make sure you keep notes of discussions and outcomes wherever possible.
If you need to stop work because the smoke is affecting you or there is a serious risk to your health and safety:
Let your employer/ supervisor know and ask for alternative, safe duties in a safe environment;
Complete an incident report – your workplace will have a form that you can use to record a health and safety incident. It’s really important that there is a record of what has happened.
Contact Worksafe ACT (the government regulator) to report the problem (you can do this anonymously).
In general, the best way to be protected is to avoid exposure to smoke by staying indoors with windows closed and running an air conditioner, keeping activity levels low and avoiding activities that make you breathe faster and deeper. See ACT Health advice here.
The steps needed to minimise exposure for workers include:
Locating work inside or in enclosed structures/vehicles with filters effective for PM2.5 particles
Changing the place of work to where levels are lower or stopping work while smoke haze is hazardous
Reducing work time in area of unfiltered air
Increasing frequency and length of rest times and reducing the physical intensity of work to help lower breathing and heart rates.
Note: Expert advice is required for any use of respiratory protection. Respirators need to be able to filter particles and fit the person’s face well. Respirators can increase health risks especially when it’s hot and physical work is involved. Those with medical conditions need medical advice before using respiratory protection.
Useful contacts
If you are unsure about what to do, you can contact the Young Workers Advice Service via email at youngworkerscbr@unionsact.org.au
You can also contact your Union or WorksafeACT