{"id":257243,"date":"2020-04-27T11:45:57","date_gmt":"2020-04-27T01:45:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=257243"},"modified":"2020-07-11T10:43:18","modified_gmt":"2020-07-11T00:43:18","slug":"spitting-fines-to-protect-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2020\/04\/27\/spitting-fines-to-protect-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"Spitting Fines To Protect Workers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
The new Health Direction will also protect workers in supermarkets as well as public officials and other essential services (Photo: PPR)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

April 27, 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n

People who deliberately cough, sneeze or spit on public officials and workers – including shop assistants – could be fined up to $13,345 under a new COVID-19 Public Health Direction.<\/p>\n

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she was acting to protect workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur retail workers, police and paramedics deserve to be protected. I was disturbed to hear stories of people threatening to deliberately infect frontline staff,\u201d Premier Palaszczuk said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s disgusting and I want police to throw the book at them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Health Minister Steven Miles said that while the risk of infection was low because there were so few cases, incidents could be very distressing for staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cImagine going to work one day and having someone cough over you and then having to wait to see if you got sick,\u201d Mr Miles said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the kind of distress this is causing people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Direction allows for a $1335 on-the-spot fine or a court ordered penalty of up to $13,345.<\/p>\n

Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said the Direction, which will be in effect from Monday (April 27) would serve as further protection for our frontline workers.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cEven during a global pandemic, our frontline workers show up to work each day to treat, protect and serve Queenslanders \u2013 and they should be celebrated for the heroes they are,\u201d Dr Young said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis public health direction further enforces that any form of violence or aggression against workers will not be tolerated.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the COVID-19 pandemic emergency, any person who intentionally coughs, sneezes or spits at a public official or a worker, or threatens to do so, can be fined up to $13,345. They may also face criminal charges.<\/p>\n

A public official or a worker is anyone at work or travelling for work during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

This includes, but is not limited, to:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Health workers and Health Department officials<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
      \n
    • Police, fire and ambulance officers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
        \n
      • Retail workers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
          \n
        • Food delivery workers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
            \n
          • Transport workers including ferry, bus and train crews and taxi and ride-share drivers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
              \n
            • Council workers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                \n
              • Electricity, gas and water meter readers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                  \n
                • Airport workers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                    \n
                  • Teachers and school staff<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                    Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association State Secretary Chris Gazenbeek said retail and fast food workers had borne the brunt of a huge upsurge in customer abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/strong><\/p>\n

                    \u201cWe applaud the tough stance being taken by the Palaszczuk Government to protect essential workers,” he said.<\/p>\n

                    \u201cThere has to be zero tolerance for this sort of behaviour being directed at the amazing workers who have been keeping our community going during the COVID-19 crisis, whether it\u2019s retail workers, health workers, police, public transport workers or any other worker.<\/p>\n

                    \u201cIt\u2019s disturbing that we\u2019d need a law that stops this kind of disgraceful behaviour,but unfortunately we do.<\/p>\n

                    \u201cThese are our neighbours stocking our shelves and manning our cash registers. They are also your friends\u2019 sons and daughters and your colleagues\u2019 partner or parent. Sometimes we\u2019ve all just got to step back and remember that we\u2019re all in this together.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                    People who deliberately cough, sneeze or spit on public officials and workers – including shop assistants – could be fined up to $13,345 under a new COVID-19 Public Health Direction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":210596,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,1455,3,24],"tags":[1132],"yoast_head":"\nSpitting Fines To Protect Workers - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"People who deliberately cough, sneeze or spit on public officials and workers - including shop assistants - could be fined up to $13,345 under a new COVID-19 Public Health Direction.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2020\/04\/27\/spitting-fines-to-protect-workers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Spitting Fines To Protect Workers - 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