Prison officers at risk as prison population grows

Sedney : When a frustrated prisoner threw a billiard ball at Jason Gould it cost the prison officer the sight in his left eye.”An inmate was having a bad day,” says Mr Gould. “He threw a pool ball at me and got me in the left eye and ruptured the eye ball and the iris and the lens fell out, fractured the eye socket and dislodged my cheek. I had to have a cornea transplant and an artificial lens put in.” Now, four years after the incident in January 2011, Mr Gould, who has had 12 operations, has trouble seeing the fingers on his hand through his left eye.Mr Gould is one of about 4000 prison officers in NSW spread across a rapidly growing prison population and who believe their safety is at increased risk.While the government has celebrated the growing remand population in prisons as a result of tougher bail laws, the Public Service Association has raised concerns about the safety of prison officers and cuts to their workers compensation entitlements. Latest figures from the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research show the adult prison population has grown from 9886 in April 2013 to 11363 in March 2015. The remand population grew from 2700 to 3476. Mr Gould is among prison officers who lost workers compensation benefits as part of the NSW government’s changes to the WorkCover scheme in 2012. Other law enforcement and emergency service workers, including police were exempted from the same cuts to benefits.”We are in situations that are as dangerous as the ones police face,” he said.
“But we don’t get the same workers compensation benefits as police officers. We lost it all in 2012.”Everyone can see we are in a riskier job, except the government. I would love for some of these politicians to spend some time in a jail on a good day.”Under the changes, medical benefits cut out after 12 months for Mr Gould who needs to spend about $6000 a year on medication and ongoing treatment. Prison officers also miss out on lump sum payments that injured police can access.Mr Gould, who has a wife and two teenage children, said it costs him $800 for a return flight to Sydney from Broken Hill to see a specialist eye doctor.
“I felt abandoned by the whole system,” he said.Steve McMahon, who represents prison officers at the NSW Public Service Association said the increase in the prison population meant prisoners had less access to telephone calls and exercise areas.”They become frustrated at being crammed in facilities not designed for the numbers,” Mr McMahon said.”Overcrowding is one of the most common reasons for unrest.”Mr McMahon said that the PSA has received an increasing number of anecdotal reports of prison assaults and is calling on the state government to restore lost workers compensation benefits to prison officers.