Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee [Part 2], , 3:17:07 to 3:46:21
Comcare officials discuss Cleanaway's workplace safety record following multiple worker fatalities. The committee examines regulatory oversight, enforceable undertakings, and the impact of private equity ownership.
Topics: Workplace relations, Public safety, Integrity
Speakers: Senator Tony Sheldon, Colin Radford, Senator Paul Scarr, Justin Napier, Speaker 23, Interjection, Josh Dolega, Senator Penny Allman-Payne, Speaker 20
chief executive officer, Mr. Colin Radford. Um, welcome. Do you have an opening statement this even? >> Thank you. >> Great. Thank you. Um, Senator Sheldon, you have the call.
>> Thanks very much. Um but I think there's been some uh there's been a document that's been circulated regarding Cleanway. >> Um and I'll get to that document in a moment. Um just want to ask some serious cleanway is licensed um in the com selfinsured lency of course in the comare scheme and um in my view it's certainly become one of the Australia's worst offenders when it comes to workplace safety. Are you aware that eight cleanway workers have been killed at work since the middle of 2022?
>> I'm aware of six in the last two years, Senator, but that that could be correct. Yes. I'm not not disputing that.
>> The um and aware there's there's been a series of serious injuries that have occurred as well. >> Yes, Senator. And I' and I'd take that you're aware that undertakings were given in the 13th of March 2025 um to deliver na for cleanway after prosecutions and I congratulate uh comare for the work on this base um that the national waste management company cleanaway has been fined a recorded $1.1 million for breaching federal work safety laws over an Adelaide truck crash that killed two motorists. It was a horrific fatality with two two lives. I know in the equation of accountability financially, that's a lot of money in the in a court sense, but um no amount of money and certainly that amount of money doesn't uh doesn't compensate or make people accountable when two lives are lost in the way that they were lost. Um, but I also give credit to uh Comare um for getting an undertaking from Cleanway um that they would spend $900,000 on safety measures across its national operations following the incident that caused serious injuries to a CRA worker. Um are you is you aware of that u Mr. Rford? Uh I think maybe one of your team
I think that may predate me senator in my
>> maybe one of your team could help with both the number of eight people that since mid 2022 I might add there's more people have died at that company prior to that but mid 2022 um and also the undertaking that was given by um clean away um if you could and the amount of money I mentioned on $100,000 to train
>> that's correct Senator Luis Close general manager of legal group at comare there is a current Um, Conquer accepted an undertaking on the 20th of February, 2025 as an alternative to continuing prosecution proceedings in relation to that incident at Cleanaway facility in the ACT where a worker sustained serious injuries um when his hand came into contact with an unguarded cardboard bailing machine. That WHS undertaking remains ongoing.
>> Can can I just then uh the document that we've circulated just go to that and I there is an exhaustive list of examples um which I'm aware that um Comareair has received these in May of this year following um inspections. Uh this document since in May this year was received by Cleanway. However, this >> document I'm giving you is the same document that you were received in May, but I'm giving it to you. I've given it to you prior prior to this um hearing. >> Um I'm just going to touch on some of the um contraventions. um blood sample vials on floor, blood samples full of um cog calculated blood scattered on the floor. Now, Cleanway is a company for those that aren't aware is as a waste company uh to large national operator. Uh it has responsibility um for collecting waste from um high risk high biohazard um hospitals etc. Um, so you've got blood spilled, um, vials broken all over the floor. Um, there's a series of photos which you may see on page 12. Maybe you're nodding your head. I've taken that, Mr. Adford, you've you're seeing those. >> Um, seeing photos of the the blood splatter, uh, the broken vials. Um, I'll take you to there's so many pages here, but I think it's appropriate to show the gravity of what's going on. I'll just touch on some of them. There is many, many that I'm not including. Um pallets of used scrubs on page 17. Um pallets of used scrubs stored in yard and unmarked undeclared biological um waste in black um bags in the yard. Um the bags were overflowing. Uh some of them broken open. Um the scrubs are visible. Um the scrubs are caked in dried blood. Had a distinct and offensive prominent odor. Um this is on at another site. This is not the same site. uh other sites again um the uh on page 18 uh biological waste bins were filthy with no adequate um safe um disposal. Um uh distinct offensive prominent odor. Uh some bins marked as containing toxic Uh and and for that photo there is pictures of for those that may be listening there's pictures of bins stacked on top of like a it's your your wheelie bin at home but this has toxic biological waste in it stacked on top of each other. So someone's lifted a wheelie bin on top of another wheelie bin with toxic waste and it's sitting in the middle of the yard. And you can see by the by the photo that it certainly gives the impression um that um there's considerable number of those bins scattered through quite a large um area within uh the facility um that is double stacked. Uh there's another photo on page 19 um scattered syringes um um clinical waste um photos uh flammable liquid bin stacked on top of each other. Um, I'll jump to uh and the similar photos right until I get to page 28. Um, uh, spill test kits um, out of date on page 28. Um, this is yet another site. Um, the, um, uh, fire extinguishers, which is inflammable material in there. Um, extinguishers, missing test tags. Um, again, I'll jump a number of pages, not because there isn't a number of horrific examples I could give, but there are so many. I'm just highlighting a few horrendous ones. The obvious thing, you know, um, for those of us that sort of have a basic understanding of safety, you know, access, and those photos show on page 31, access to fire hose is blocked. Uh, access to the fire hose in one of the warehouses is blocked by rubbish and debris on the floor. Again, this is a separate site. um going to uh other instances of barrels and bins on page 32 stored in front of roller doors and emergency exit doors. Um and look, the list does go on and on and on. Now, this is a company that gave an undertaking um on the 13th of March uh 2025 um not only to Comare but importantly to the Um and uh we have the series of deaths that have occurred. Where are they at and what other prosecutions are they uh is comare either investigating or have got um uh underway at the moment against comare against uh clean.
>> Thank thank you Senator um and thank you for providing the report and for taking um the time to step through some of those um very concerning issues that you cleanway is currently the subject of a national regulatory program by concare. Um, it is which involves um a series of um focused inspections of cleanway sites. Um, p primarily unannounced we have six active investigations on foot at the moment into potential contraventions of the um work health and safety act. Um between September of last year and the 31st of August this year uh we've commenced 113 monitoring compliance activities uh which includes 94 inspections um and four criminal investigations. Uh we've conducted approximately 82 site visits in that time and we've issued 34 enforcement notices over that period. Uh there is one current prosecution underway uh currently before the courts uh which relates to a fatality at the Lucas Heights facility. >> Um beyond that program we also have and I'll ask um my colleague Mr. Napia to provide a bit more detail but we have a series of uh regulatory programs where we target particular PCBUS or employers where we are concerned about uh their health and safety performance and cleanway is the subject uh of such a regulatory program uh commencing this
financial year but I Mr. Maybe just before that and just to you and thank you for for um commenting on the serious you know seriousness of the of these actions. What what I find particularly everything that led up to this the undertaking but the fact that this investigation where I went through that not exhaustive list but long list >> of examples and photo photographic evidence um even after the undertakings all this time afterwards you know well over 12 months afterwards if anything is is bad as bad it appears and so to me and some of the evidence that I've received it's worse than it was before which is just absolutely frightening. >> Sorry, Mr. Napia.
>> Thank you, Senator. Justin Napia, general manager, regulatory operations group. Um, yes, as uh Mr. Radford said, we do have a dedicated program of a regulatory program. In addition to the reactive work that we undertake um as and when matters are notified to us as the regulator that program was instituted because of our concerns with safety generally across Cleanway's operations and that program involves a number a large number of unannounced site visits and we have drawn on some of the information that you've you've discussed um earlier to inform where and uh and the scope of those um those activities. activities. So, we are concerned about cleanaway safety performance and have been for uh over over some time. And with that in mind, we want to get uh we want to engage uh with across workplaces. Cleanway, as I'm sure you know, has many sites across Australia. >> Um our concern is that uh safety is not being consistently managed across those sites. And with that in mind, we've designed a program which involves a range of unannounced visits and where necessary notices being issued uh to assess their their compliance and across broadly across aspects of the the business. Uh we've mentioned for instance the interaction of people and plant. So part of the focus is on high-risk plant including the interaction with mobile plant and people. uh vehicle interactions and traffic management planning are a concern and that's the focus of this regulatory program. Management of hazardous chemicals and you've made some references to um some very poor behavior and practice in that place. uh contractor labor hire arrangements is in scope including consultation supervision and coordination of activities and importantly I think engagement and consultation arrangements with workers and HSRs and we're concerned to know what officer due diligence uh duties clean away is exercising are they at the senior levels across the organization at board and management are they taking account of these concerning incidents and what steps are they putting in place to address them across the network of sites. So, it's quite a comprehensive program. Senator,
can I >> ask a followup question? What's the >> indulgence? And I've previously spoken about Cleanway's performance from an environmental perspective in my home state of Queensland and um the issues that have been caused there. And I'm deeply shocked by the photographs which I saw in the TWWU's report, especially the biological hazardous material. Um, I mean, that's just This is what their chair said in their last annual report, the 2026. They said they conducted an independent safety review and the review did not identify evidence of a systemic failure in strategy, design, governance or organizational commitment to safety. The review identified opportunities to enhance consistency and feedback mechanisms closer to frontline operations. End quote. How does that marry with what Comcast car's comare is seeing? And and the second question is has anyone had engagement with the chairman sorry the chair of the board of directors or the chief executive officer and the managing director of of Cleanway because there seems to be an absolute disconnect between what the chair has said in their last annual report and what we've just seen in in those photographs in the TWWU report. And I I believe the shareholders would be absolutely shocked and dismayed at that disconnect.
>> Thank you, Senator. It certainly doesn't accord with um our observations of of Cleanway and it certainly doesn't represent um a situation where, as I mentioned earlier, we've issued 34 enforcement notices in the last 12 months alone. Um so that does not um certainly in my view demonstrate um a clear health and safety system across the business. As I said we've issued 34 enforcement notices. Um Cleanway is the subject of a national uh regulatory program and um that work is continuing in terms of the engagement with the senior officers. As Mr. Napia said um part of our regulatory program is looking at officer due diligence within the company as you would be aware um senators um officers have significant um personal liabilities and duties under uh work health and safety laws and we're examining uh cleaner waste performance uh in relation to those duties. In terms of engagement, um senators may or may not be aware that um self-insured lences um sit broadly within the remitt of the safety, rehabilitation and compensation commission. Um so we don't we we regulate uh I think 29 out of the 39 self-insured licences from a work health and safety point of view. We don't regulate them all, but Cleaway is one that we do regulate. Um, but in terms of their performance and their fitness, for one of a better term, to retain their self- insurance license, um, that sits with the SRCC. And earlier this year, um, I'll I'll correct the record if I get this wrong. I think it was in March of this year um the chair and the CEO were called before the SRCC um to essentially explain themselves. Um I did not attend that meeting senator for the reasons um that we had regulatory and a prosecution on foot. Um so I didn't think it was appropriate as as CEO and and uh the regulator under the act to engage in that conversation when they were meeting with the SRCC.
Well, I'll I'll certainly be going through the annual report and sustainability report to see if they mention that. >> Yeah. >> In in engagement. Uh but I just want to um uh commend Cinder Sheldon for raising these issues and commend the TWWU actually for the um important work they've done in terms of that report. Thank you.
>> Yeah. Thank you, Senator Scarr. I'll pass it on. I think um your question, you know, highlights the fact that on the at the um the 26th of February 2026 is reported in the AFR um from an external review, they said there was no systemic failures um in the area of occupational safety in and the eight deaths and more generally. Um I I'm going to I'm going to um take this because it raises that serious questions about no I'm a um participating member of this committee and I'll certainly be participating until the end of this subject matter over the coming uh months and year and years if it takes um but you know one of the things I'll be putting very strongly to the committee that there should be consideration given to the safety and rehabilitation and compensation commission appearing here because they are the ones that consider that they and if I correct me if I've got this wrong uh and I'm going to your point you made um Mr. Radford that says that it will generally only consider suspending or revoking a self- insurance license where there are serious or systemic failures or where a lency has res resisted or failed to achieve compliance. Since 2021, eight workers have lost the penalty of course is the 1.1 million the undertakings certainly from the evidence before you um and as I understand the um charges that have been uh pursued by um com comare since the undertakings in um in 25 uh the breaches of those undertakings uh at some point the you know there'll be repeated fatalities and I'm going to go to one of the injuries a serious horrific injury has comare raised cleanway safety record with the um safety rehabilitation compensation commission for consideration as a self- insurance license issue and I I might just foreshadow they're going to have to be here.
Um, thank you, Senator. I I don't want to speak on behalf of the SRCC. Um but they um the SRCC does receive um regular reports on the lences um on a range of issues including their health and safety performance and and they as I said I don't want to speak on behalf of the SRCC but certainly when I have been present at SRCC meetings they have raised concerns about Cleanway's work health and safety performance.
>> Thank you Mr. R for confirming that. I I'm going to go to um is the um so we've got eight workplace deaths and the largest penalties I understand the history of the act with this $1.1 million.
>> That's correct.
>> Um is that not enough for trigger to consideration of a license suspension or revocation? Um and is there a role that comare plays regarding raising consideration by them? Obviously they have to make the decision but is it um part of the remitt of comare and you might explain this to me to the >> um to make recommendations for serious consideration whilst it's being dealt
>> It it's comare provides secretarial support to the commission. Um we're required to do that under under the legislation. Um we also um provide information that is asked for from the commission. Um I'm I'm going to turn to my deputy down the end who's um more familiar with the interaction between the the legislation and the role of the SRCC, but I don't believe we've ever made a a license recommendation um because it is not our role under the
Michael Juke, Deputy C.
>> I'm sorry, Mr. Red, I'm taken that you've also flagged about concerns of Clean Away to the the to the commission as you said earlier evidence.
>> Yes. And the commission has also raised those concerns directly with Cleanway.
>> Uh, thanks Senator Michael Duke, deputy CEO Comare. Um, so the the role of Comare as uh CEO described is one where we provide administrative support, secretarial support. The commission itself has set out a broad framework of uh license, compliance, performance, a whole range of things. A lot of that's on their their website. >> Comare's role is to gather information related to those various areas of um
>> yes
>> interest for the commission and pull together information. So every license against every lency a report is produced every meeting of the commission and it will delve into a range of issues including um work health and safety performance, claims performance, rehabilitation performance. The commission itself has set various performance KPIs those things. The commission also will direct at various times which comare will then facilitate things like uh uh audits so prevention audits uh work health and safety audits those sorts of things from time to time as well. So comare's role is really to gather that information. Um
>> I think you've g I think you've g thorough thorough description but thank you for that. I just I just move then to >> and I appreciate I'm I'm going to be talking about a specific case. A lot of this has been reported in the media and I appreciate there's some limitation about you speaking about um a specific individual. I just for the record I've also spoken to that individual directly myself and um she's comfortable about me raising this question but I also understand the the capacity for you to answer detail on specific cases. But it does go to this uh Hune Murphy, a working mother of seven and a grandmother who's been left with permanent vision loss due to Cleaway's disregard for safety. Uh Hay, she's a truck driver um was carrying out a shift when concentrated methanol poured from a hospital waste bin over her. She contacted management to seek urgent safety advice. Crickets, no In the coming weeks, she was hospitalized before finding out she would uh have permanent vision loss. I'm just appalled about how this company's operating because they have photographs, they have medical evidence, and yet as a self-insured operator, they've now discontinued her compensation >> payments. She is 85% blind in both eyes. She's a single mother grandmother who raises her kids and grandkids. She had a um has a um is very tough and strong. Um her kids are very supportive of her. I've met them on a number of So when there's a dispute with a self-insured operator and I might just so I know just bear with me and I apologize to the committee and to the I don't think it's un surprising to also see that an equity firm was in negotiations to purchase clean away when as they you know one of the things you want to decrease costs and I put it directly on cleanway and I'll say this on the record here I'm not asking for comare to comment unless you wish to for some reason um but you know I'm putting to the committee and to the public and that is that this is a calculated attempt to falsely imply that they were doing they had fixed their problems up. They threw her to the wolves and her kids and her grandkids after blinding her because they failed to respond to contacts. They failed to respond when she was speaking to them to come and visit. They did some horrendous um uh inappropriate investigations without u witnesses uh into um into her medical condition. Um yeah, it just it just is the lowest of the low. But I want to go to this this point. um the private equity firm that's now purchased uh EQ2 EQQT infrastructure has there been contact now with EQT to I and I I just I'm going to just say this again. You know, I mean, I equity firms buy, they either split it up, shove it off to somebody else. They paid well above, they paid 20% above the price for the shares. So, here's capital sweated already, going to be sweated again in an operation that's killing people and maming grandmothers and then denying responsibility because they're a self-insurer. I mean, they deserve to be in the gallows as far as I'm concerned, held to account for what's going on.
So, we've not had any engagement with the private equity firm. Senator,
>> can I then um ask you to take full consideration of contacting the private equity firm in the appropriate channels?
>> I think that would be a matter for the SRCC, but I'm I'm again I don't I don't want to um create obligations for the SRCC, but I'd be more than happy to to pass that message to to the SRCC on the committee's behalf. Senator,
>> well, Mr. Radford the the key question is are they actually aware of of everything that is happening in with respect to cleanway um that's that's one of the one of the issues that immediately comes to my mind and I I dearly hope uh the chair and the board of directors watch each of them personally watches Senator Sheldon's presentation this evening um because it is Um it is shocking. >> Sorry.
>> Yeah. Thank you, Senator. And I I there's a lot more to be said on this, but I'll um not mindful of time. There's a lot more to be done on prosecuting this matter, but thank you, Senator Scott. Back to the chair.
>> Can I just say one thing, Mr. Radford, last time we were in Senate estimates, um I asked you about the record fine the clean had and it appears and again after Senator Sheldon's evidence again tonight that this is just the cost of doing business to these jokers. It is an absolute disgrace. Now, we need a strong regulator and we need you and workers need you to be out there and to be have these companies fear you when they are acting like this. And the whole promise behind industrial manslaughter laws is if you kill a worker, you go to jail. And we need to see something happen with these guys. It's an absolute disgrace.
>> Well, and in and the >> So, are you I'll put it as a question. Um, are you aware if the a successful takeover is consumated, the senior executive team all of their long-term incentives and short-term incentives will typically immediately vest and they will walk away with millions and millions. Are are you aware of that dynamic in the context of a a takeover?
Not not as a not from a regulatory point of view, Senator, but I'm I'm aware of what generally happens when private equity buys out a an existing listed company.
>> Okay. Thanks.
>> Thank you. I mean, Mr. Bradford, I think you can see the the depth of passion and alarm on this committee. So, I'm sure we will be returning to these issues, but thank you, Senator Sheldon, for raising