The first of more than 50 witnesses have begun giving evidence at a committal hearing to determine whether Victoria's Department of Health will face trial over its running of the state's first hotel quarantine program.
The ill-fated program, which ran from March to July 2020, ultimately sparked the state's second COVID-19 wave, during which more than 800 Victorians died.
WorkSafe charged the department with 58 breaches of the Occupational Health and Safety Act last year, alleging it failed to provide a safe working environment for its employees and put the public at risk.
The Department of Health is fighting the charges.
Workers in Melbourne's hotel quarantine system told an inquiry in 2020 that self-isolation and social distancing protocols were not properly enforced at their workplaces.
Private security companies deny training was 'lacking'
On the first day of the five-week hearing in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court today, Magistrate Simon Zebrowski heard evidence from two private security companies that were contracted to guard hotel quarantine guests.
This included current and former managers from MSS Security, which had 26 staff members contract COVID-19 while working at Melbourne's Stamford Plaza Hotel in June 2020.
Former business manager Anthony Bandiera said all staff working in the program had completed mandatory training, which covered infection control and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE).
"We felt that at the time the guards were well-equipped … they'd completed their training modules," Mr Bandiera said.
Despite an internal investigation Mr Bandiera said the company had not been able to identify a cause of the outbreak, which was later linked to 10 per cent of all second wave infections.
He also told the court media reports about untrained security guards and PPE issues were not consistent with his experience and he was not aware of widespread issues among his staff.
"We didn't feel we were … lacking," he said.
PPE in 'short supply' during pandemic
The company's former health and safety coordinator Charles Hooper described the challenges in sourcing PPE for workers.
"Often it meant for me, traipsing around Melbourne to collect it," he said.
The court heard the private security companies were responsible for sourcing PPE for their workers, although at times it was provided by the department.
Wilson Security's Victorian general manager, Gregory Watson, also gave evidence about the "short supply" of PPE.
"There was a lot of scurrying around in the background," he said.
Mr Watson said the company had put in place its own policies and procedures around infection prevention control that went further than general department guidelines.
He said there was a lack of advice and instruction from the department at times about "what was acceptable and what wasn't".
In 2020, one hotel quarantine guard in Melbourne told an inquiry that staff had been instructed to stash used gloves and masks in their pockets, out of view of CCTV cameras, so the equipment could be used again.
The committal hearing will resume tomorrow.
