Hiring temporary workers on your property?

Tuesday 28 July 2020

If you’ve been confused about whether or not you need a COVID health management plan, then you’ve come to the right place.
 
Here’s what you need to know:
  • If you hire any temporary workers (workers who have travelled from where they normally live to take a job on your property i.e. backpackers, shearers, contractors, etc.) then you need to complete a Workplace Health Management plan.
  • You must email the plan to Queensland Health at covid.plans@health.qld.gov.au.
  • You don’t have to use the template provided in the plan – you can create your own document if you prefer
  • AgForce conducted a webinar with the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries to answer members’ questions on how to fill out the Queensland Health COVID health management plan template. Watch it now making sure you enter the password: 1v@n^9F*
  • Not everything in the template is mandatory. If one of the requirements doesn’t work for your business, you don’t have to adopt it or fill out that part of the template. However, the requirement to keep these forms as part of your health management plan is mandatory.
The importance of completing a COVID health management plan if you hire any temporary workers to work on your property can’t be underestimated.

The plans were used by Queensland Health to test more than 250 people who came into contact with a temporary worker infected with COVID in Bundaberg in June.

Thanks to the employers in the area who took the time to complete and submit a COVID health management plan, all positive COVID cases were quickly isolated, and the situation was contained.

Filling in a COVID health management really does help keep COVID out of your community.

You can listen to AgForce CEO Mike Guerin talking about COVID health management plans on the ABC’s Country Hour.

For more information, visit Business Queensland’s support for agriculture page or email AgForce Safety and Workforce Policy Officer Elisa Westmore at westmoree@agforceqld.org.au.