Families who’ve been impacted by serious workplace injuries and deaths are to have more ongoing help in dealing with their trauma.
Minister for Workplace Safety, Ingrid Stitt said WorkSafe Victoria’s Family Liaison Officers and Family Support Specialists are to increase the support they provide in the first weeks following a workplace death.
“The increasing support is part of reforms WorkSafe is implementing to recognise the impact workplace trauma can have on the families of victims,” Ms Stitt said.
“This includes appointing external Bereavement Support Workers, who will work with WorkSafe and families to ensure ongoing support is available,” she said.
“Bereavement support services will also be offered to all affected family members, using the broader definition of a family member in the Victim Charter (2006), which includes any person who can reasonably be considered a family member and not just dependants.”
Ms Stitt said the reforms followed the State’s Families and Injured Workers System Reform and Implementation Package to increase support for families of people who were killed or injured in workplace incidents.
The Minister said the Package had already led to the recruitment of more Family Liaison Officers and Family Support Specialists as well as dedicated resources, including a new website for families and updated protocols for coordinating with Victoria Police to ensure families were notified of deaths quickly and received support as soon as possible.
