Mandatory vaccination for ‘at risk’ port workers

28 Sep 2021 / Western Australia, Australia

It will soon be mandatory for Western Australian port workers to be vaccinated against Covid-19 before they can access and undertake some roles on an 'exposed' vessel…

…The Directions apply to all commercial ports in Western Australia and include anyone who has contact with an exposed vessel. Implementation will be a staged approach to limit the potential impact on port activities.

From 12.01am, October 15, port workers will need to have had at least their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to access an exposed vessel, carry out a service in connection with an exposed vessel or interact with crew. These workers will need to be fully vaccinated by 12.01am, November 12.

WA Health will conduct a pop-up vaccination clinic at Fremantle Port on September 30 to make it easier for workers to get the COVID-19 vaccine. As part of the initial 1A cohort, port workers have had priority access to vaccinations since February 22, 2021.

Nothing in the Directions prevents unvaccinated port workers from embarking or performing work on an unexposed vessel or coming into close contact with people from an unexposed vessel.

It will be the responsibility of the employer to collect and maintain records of vaccinated workers.

The Exposed Port Worker (Restrictions on Access) Directions provide exemptions for unvaccinated police and emergency workers, as well as statutory officers performing their duties from entering an exposed vessel…

(For information about operations in Australia, contact GAC Australia at [email protected])

Source: Extract from Government of Western Australia media statement (www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au)

NOTE: An exposed vessel is defined as any vessel which has been at an overseas port within the last 60 days, which effectively covers virtually all vessels calling Western Australia.

If quoting any content from Hot Port News, please cite GAC Hot Port News as the source.