The national OHS Officer of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, Deborah Vallance, provided her perspective on the tweaking of Australia’s OHS laws to the StickTogether radio program on 25 April 2010. (The interview is at the 16 minute mark in the podcast) Vallance says that the complexity and overlap of laws is often overstated but that there are [...]
All posts for the month April, 2010
Union view of OHS harmonisation and data on the social cost of workplace safety
Posted by Kevin Jones on April 30, 2010
http://safetyatworkblog.com/2010/04/30/union-view-of-ohs-harmonisation-and-data-on-the-social-cost-of-workplace-safety/
Prominent unionist renews pledge on asbestos
SafetyAtWorkBlog asked Yossi Berger, National OHS Co-ordinator, Australian Workers’ Union, for comment on the relaunched Mesothelioma Registry. His response is below “The only known cause of meso is exposure to asbestos. If you are diagnosed with it you have a 50% chance of surviving longer than 12 months. Any lung physician will tell you that it’s a [...]
Posted by Kevin Jones on April 30, 2010
http://safetyatworkblog.com/2010/04/30/prominent-unionist-renews-pledge-on-asbestos/
New Mesothelioma Registry and government answers asbestos questions
The Australian Workplace Relations Minister, Julia Gillard, this morning launched the latest Australian Mesothelioma Registry. SafetyAtWorkBlog took the opportunity to ask Safe Work Australia some specific questions about asbestos and government policy. Their responses are below. The government has awarded the contract for the new Australian Mesothelioma Registry to a consortium led by the Cancer Institute of NSW.
Posted by Kevin Jones on April 30, 2010
http://safetyatworkblog.com/2010/04/30/new-mesothelioma-registry-and-asbestos-related-disease-data/
Australia to get a national workers’ memorial
Last year, Tasmania began building a memorial garden for people who have been killed at work. South Australia has the Don Gage Memorial Walk. Queensland unveiled its new workers’ memorial on 28 April 2010. The Australian government has finally sought to establish a national memorial in Canberra in support of the International Day of Mourning. [...]
Posted by Kevin Jones on April 29, 2010
http://safetyatworkblog.com/2010/04/29/australia-to-get-a-national-workers-memorial/
National recognition of Workers’ Memorial Day – US & UK
The United States President, Barack Obama, has officially proclaimed 28 April 2010 as Workers Memorial Day. It may be a politically appropriate announcement given the multiple fatalities that have happened recently in the United States, which the President mentions, but this should not overlook the fact that the leader of one of the most influential countries in [...]
Posted by Kevin Jones on April 29, 2010
http://safetyatworkblog.com/2010/04/29/national-recognition-of-workers-memorial-day-us-uk/
Inter-related issues of workplace bullying
Most of the workplace bullying attention in Australia in recent years has focussed on the white-collar industries and the relationship to stress, workload, harassment and policies for respect. A case reported in the The Age newspaper on 29 April 2010 about bullying in a door frame company is reflective of apprentice bullying cases of over [...]
Posted by Kevin Jones on April 29, 2010
http://safetyatworkblog.com/2010/04/29/inter-related-issues-of-workplace-bullying/
Australia’s national safety award winners
This evening in Canberra, Safe Work Australia announced the winners of the 5th Annual Safe Work Australia Awards. The profiles below are provided by Safe Work Australia. The winners are: Best Workplace Health and Safety Management System – Private Sector GHD, South Australia “GHD South Australia uses an electronic workplace health and safety management system accessible [...]
Posted by Kevin Jones on April 29, 2010
http://safetyatworkblog.com/2010/04/29/australias-national-safety-award-winners/
Professor Niki Ellis hits out at the state of OHS in Australia
“…OHS is not fit for the 21st century. It is isolated, has a limited academic base and remit, uneven provision, lack of good quality data, a poor image and is perceived by many as the servant of the employer.” Professor Niki Ellis speaks frankly about the OHS discipline in Australia. Professor Niki Ellis recently was appointed the [...]
Posted by Kevin Jones on April 28, 2010
http://safetyatworkblog.com/2010/04/28/professor-niki-ellis-hits-out-at-the-state-of-ohs-in-australia/
Unionists express anger at Australia’s approach to OHS on Workers’ Memorial Day
Some days, politics should be kept in the background. Increasingly the International Day of Mourning is being used as a political platform, principally by the union movement. But this is discomforting and a little like anti-war protests during ANZAC Day, as happened several decades ago. International Day of Mourning, or Workers’ Memorial Day, as it [...]
Posted by Kevin Jones on April 28, 2010
http://safetyatworkblog.com/2010/04/28/unionists-express-anger-at-australias-approach-to-ohs-on-workers-memorial-day/
ACTU industrial officer is new WorkSafe executive
SafetyAtWorkBlog has been informed that Cath Bowtell has been appointed the new executive director of WorkSafe Victoria. Bowtell’s name may be familiar to some Australians due to her recent contest to be the next President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). Cath Bowtell is due to take on the position in the middle of 2010.
Posted by Kevin Jones on April 28, 2010
http://safetyatworkblog.com/2010/04/28/actu-industrial-officer-is-new-worksafe-executive/
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