Stark footage of WA prison staff using excessive force on inmates has been released by the Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) as part of a damning series of reports about serious misconduct in prisons.

The CCC said unreasonable force was used against prisoners in several incidents at jails in 2016 and 2017.

Dramatic vision from three such incidents has been released, two of them involving the use of chemical agents on prisoners at Eastern Goldfields prison in 2017.

Capsicum spray used on inmates

In the first, on May 4, a guard was dealing with a 51-year-old minimum security prisoner who took hold of a door handle and would not let go.

Within nine seconds of the prisoner holding the door handle, the officer "requested chemical agent from his colleague" and used it almost immediately.

The Commission said the use of the capsicum spray was not in line with Department of Justice policies and there was an "unacceptable risk of hydraulic eye damage".

The officer had placed his colleagues at risk, the CCC said, although evidence from other officers suggested the prisoner presented no threat.

The officer's own report did not explain why he deployed the agent.

The second incident, in the crisis care unit on May 20, involved the same officer who used the spray on May 4.

A man taken into custody for a suspected breach of bail undertaking became agitated and the vision showed him "shaping up" to officers.

He eventually agreed to return to his cell but was sprayed with capsicum spray after he got inside.

Prisoner wrestled to ground

Vision from Hakea Prison from March 2016 showed several officers wrestling a man to the floor after he took his shirt off.

The prisoner was being transferred into another unit after he allegedly assaulted another prisoner.

Reports from the officers involved said the prisoner "clenched his t-shirt and threw it aggressively into the bag, raising his hands and showing aggressive behaviour".

A prisoner was wrestled to the ground by officers at Hakea Prison. ( ABC News: Louise Merrillees )

But the CCC said the descriptions were "exaggerated and unsupported by the CCTV footage".

It had followed an earlier incident in which the inmate was pushed, and his head hit the cell wall.

A third report on inadequate reporting of use of force involved an officer at Eastern Goldfields and Bunbury prisons.

The CCC said there was potential collusion by prison staff in the reporting of the incidents.

In a statement, the CCC said its work had "exposed cultural issues that compromise the integrity of the prison system, being an environment that not only allows misconduct, but fosters it; where some officers show little or no respect for rules, processes and protocols; where prison officers keep information from head office and where there is a reluctance on the part of some officers to report or identify misconduct."

Call for training

The CCC made a series of recommendations, including better training and promoting the confidential reporting of misconduct.

It has also called for action to be taken against officers who do not report incidents, make inaccurate statements or omit important information.

The Prison Officers' Union said while it supported calls for more adequate training, officers worked in extremely hostile and dangerous environments in which they were forced to make "split-second decisions under severe circumstances".

Union secretary Andy Smith said the state's prisons were "bursting at the seams" and a high prison population and "serious shortage of staff" had created dangerous, high-pressure environments.