A Critique of the Eight Hour Day ‘Onsite’ for Bush Regenerators in Local Government Natural Areas Contracts SE QLD
by Spencer Shaw
Over the last 20 year in SE QLD, the various Local Councils have been the major drivers of Ecological Restoration through the acquisition of natural areas, the formalisation of Restoration Practices (SE QLD Ecological Restoration Framework) and the implementation of Assisted Natural Regeneration works requiring the services of employed Bush Regenerators to undertake those services.
Primarily Councils address their requirement for Bush Regeneration services through the tendering of contracts to be delivered by Bush Regeneration Service Contractors who in-turn employ skilled staff to deliver the services outlined in the contracts.
Until 2017 Brush Turkey Contracting was the arm of Brush Turkey Enterprises that undertook our Contracting services. Brush Turkey Contracting was one of the primary ecological restoration contractors supplying Bush Regeneration Services for Natural Areas / Environmental Weed Management Contracts for both Moreton Bay Regional Council (over 10 years) and Sunshine Coast Regional Council (over 12 years). Through our business model we adopted a range of strategies to develop high skill levels in our team and long-term staff retention, including full-time and part time positions for regular staff; above award pay and conditions including, 1 day per month professional development workshops, a 9-day fortnight for full time positions and an additional wet day allowance of up to 6 days per year; education, training and ongoing professional development; and a focus on industry development through partnerships and networking with our clients and other ecological restoration businesses and community groups. Our team met at our depot before travelling to site, working onsite for the day and then returning to our depot. An 8-hour day in-total of work time, e.g., start 7am finish 3.30pm (with ½ hr unpaid time for lunch). In addition to the onground bush regeneration services, we also incorporated time at the depot for equipment maintenance, project management (e.g., database record keeping, GIS mapping of sites, ongoing flora surveys of sites, assessment of sites and their ongoing restoration), weekly team meetings and ongoing professional development. For nearly 10 years, I believe, Brush Turkey Contracting services set a high standard ecological restoration in the region we operated in and beyond, with a high degree of client satisfaction as evidenced by an ever-growing project portfolio.
However, between 2015-2017 during the tendering processes for contracts in first Sunshine Coast Council and then Moreton Bay Regional Council a key-criteria in the contracts was adopted that ended our ability to deliver the high quality ecological restoration services – while maintaining a fair and equitable work place. The criteria was (and still is) an 8-hour day onsite as a primary requirement of delivery of services. To maintain our successful model (for ecological restoration and employment outcomes) our rates would have to increase on average by 25% to allow for an increase from 8hrs to 10 hrs to allow for travel to and from many sites, furthermore productivity would be decreased by up to 20%, as less sites would be able to be worked on per week due to the increase in hours per day. This focus on the 8-hr day on-site seemed crazy after a decade of high-quality project delivery using our model, so we submitted conforming tenders with the 20% increase in rates (as required) and non-conforming tenders based on our 8-hr day ex-depot as we had done previously, and the rest as they say is history as we were ‘unsuccessful’ in these contracts.
Since this time, like so many other areas of employment, casual work and subcontracting now dominate in the delivery of ecological restoration services. Employees / subcontractors are only paid for the time they are onsite, with no allowance for weather conditions preventing work (it is all outdoors guys…), travel, ill health and often training and professional development are now often born at the individuals own cost.
This might be as a result of my rose-coloured glasses, but I would argue that the employment / social outcomes for those working in contracting services should be valued equally to those of staff working for the Local Government agencies that engage them and that the Natural Areas contracts which focus on an 8-hr day onsite, actively reduce the quality of service and employment in bush regeneration. I don’t believe (hope) that this is the intention of this requirement, but that it occurs due to an ignorance of the logistics of contract employment and service delivery.
Why 8 hrs Onsite is an Ineffective Measure of Productivity (and Potentially Counterproductive)
In my 25 + years’ experience in delivering onground work, it’s often in the first 4 hrs onsite that more that 80% of the day’s productivity is achieved, this is due to several factors, but being fresh onsite, cooler temperatures are high on the list. Genuine risk factors are faced by Bush Regenerators every day in the field, and exposure to these risk factors increases with time spent onsite and as fatigue sets in, due to an imposition to be onsite for 8 hrs regardless of workplace productivity.
Risk factors that relate to time spent onsite and that increase as time onsite increases include but are not limited to:
- heat stroke or stress in the summer (compounded by the management techniques required to meet current performance indicators such as e.g. high use of herbicide application in backpacks, brushcutting – all these involve plastic harnesses or backpacks reducing the body’s ability to cool itself when used in excess)
- Ticks and Mosquito’s (with associated disease risks e.g. Lyme Disease, Ross River Fever, Tick Typhus etc…)
- Venomous snakes and plants; bacterial infections from wounds received on or offsite (and compounded by humidity /exposure)
- Physical wear and tear on the body from undertaking manual operations in all weathers, topography.
- Exposure to herbicides.
- Reduced effectiveness with machinery due to fatigue.
- and I’m sure we could keep adding to this list….
From the perspective of bush regen contractors it’s hard not to resent an arbitrary 8 hrs onsite being seen as the most effective measurement of productivity by project managers and procurement departments of councils. Little or no opportunity for input from the contractors who deliver these services is engaged in and this is an opportunity lost, as they may just be a little closer to the health and well being of their staff or even have an idea or two about how best to deliver their services in a cost effective and ecologically sustainable manner.
Its (long past) time to recognise the highly skilled and valuable services Bush Regeneration Contractors deliver in Local Governments Natural Areas and that Councils need to move away from the top-down management model and instead engage in a two-way flow of decision making that best address’s their own project delivery requirements and in turn maintains a productive, skilled and safe work place.
Footnote
So, what is the alternative. Here at Brush Turkey Enterprises, we still operate Bush Regeneration contracting services as we always have, just not with the large teams of de facto council employees for the Natural Areas. For our Bush Regeneration services our day rate is now based primarily on a 7hr day ex depot, but this can vary depending on site conditions, weather, travel. Revegetation services are based outcomes e.g., per tree or per maintenance run costs. Our business continues to grow in real terms e.g., knowledge, diversity and quality and our services are still highly sought after. This I believe was and is a demonstrably good model for delivering quality ecological restoration, employment, and commercial outcomes and as we grow as a family business, with the next generation moving into BTE, those things are more important than ever.
