AUSGRID workers say they are being directed to travel in and out of locked-down regions, including Newcastle, the Hunter and Greater Sydney regions, for non-essential work.
The Electrical Trades Union says it has repeatedly raised their concerns after Ausgrid employees from Newcastle and the Hunter were told to travel to the Ourimbah depot for work.
Much of that work was non-essential, and included routine maintenance, which could have been done by employees from Sydney, the union said.
Secretary of the union's NSW and ACT brand Allen Hicks, went further, telling the Newcastle Herald that Ausgrid had been putting its workers, their families and the broader community at "unnecessary risk".
"We understand that from time to time workers may have to travel in and out of locked down areas for emergencies, but to direct them to do so for non-essential work is putting productivity ahead of safety," he said.
The criticism was rejected by Ausgrid which defended its handling of COVID-19 safety measures and its record to date.
There had been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 at Ausgrid since March 2020 across Greater Sydney, Newcastle or the Hunter regions, a statement issued on Tuesday said.
"Ausgrid employees are authorised workers under the Public Health Orders. Ausgrid continues to stringently follow the public health orders."
The company had a "comprehensive COVID-19 safety management plan" which was widely available and communicated to all staff on a daily basis, it said.
"Where staff are unable to work from home, they work on sites isolated from the community, doing critical maintenance to keep the lights on while adhering to all Public Health Orders.
"Ausgrid supply power to more than 1.7 million homes and business across Greater Sydney, Newcastle and the Hunter.
"During these challenging times, access to reliable power is more important than ever before as people work and learn from home.
"Therefore all maintenance work undertaken on the grid is critical.
"The last thing we want to see is extensive blackouts or loss of power to customers during stay at home orders, which is why we need to continue with our critical maintenance program."
