Security flaws revealed after shooting at Winz
An independent review has exposed flaws with the Ministry of Social Development's (MSD) safety and security measures.
MSD chief executive Brendan Boyle today released findings from part of an independent review into the ministry's security environment after the shooting of three Work and Income employees in Ashburton on September 1.
Russell John Tully, 48, allegedly murdered employees Peg Noble and Leigh Cleveland, and seriously wounded Lindy Curtis.
The review found several deficiencies in the security model of the ministry, which employs 10,000 staff and received 2 million visits to its frontline Work and Income New Zealand (WINZ) and Child Youth and Family (CYF) offices over the past year.
Safety and security protocol had evolved over time, rather than being strategically planned, resulting in inconsistent practices and cultures across the organisation.
The ministry's approach needed to be more cohesive, the review found.
Accountability and protocol for safety had largely been left up to site-managers, with senior management taking a back seat.
Security training was included in staff inductions but follow-up and refresher training was "variable".
Security guards received mixed reviews from staff who took part in the review, and while all sites had appropriate security equipment, staff familiarity with it varied.
Reporting of incidents was poor at some sites, with a high tolerance of poor client behaviour and reluctance to use time-consuming reporting software, the review found.
"Anecdotally, serious incidents have occasionally been down-played and recorded as 'medium' to avoid calls and investigation from regional and national office."
Rob Robinson, a former New Zealand police commissioner, and Murray Jack, chairman of Deloitte New Zealand, made 12 recommendations to improve safety and security within MSD.
They included the development of a clear strategy and approach to safety and security across the whole organisation, and the creation of specific management roles focussed on security.
The ministry should consider providing services "that... create tension or volatile situations" in non-face-to-face ways, and review security guard provisions and accountability.
An appendix to the review report with more detail on how the ministry should implement the recommendations was withheld from public release as it was "security-sensitive".
Boyle said management was committed to implementing all of the recommendations within the next two years, with a review of progress in 12 months.
"There is nothing more important than the safety of our staff and clients."
Commenting on the Ashburton event, Jack and Robinson said implementing their recommendations would not prevent such events from happening again.
"That event was extreme at every level, and even if the ministry fully adopts and implements all of our recommendations . . . extreme events could still occur."
The Press