The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has illustrated several matters in a recent media release – the safety of migrant labourers and the unacceptable rate of fatalities in the Australian Construction industry. Sadly these issues were mentioned in a media release protesting about the continuation of the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC). The [...]
All posts for the month September, 2010
Australian unions are being distracted from OHS
Posted by Kevin Jones on September 29, 2010
http://safetyatworkblog.com/2010/09/29/australian-unions-are-being-distracted-from-ohs/
Australian suicide research expands understanding of workplace factors
Research is intended to provide answers but sometimes it can only provide clues. But clues allow progress and flag peripheral issues that could possibly become mainstream. Social research into the possible workplace influences on suicide is one area of clues and, again, the Creative Ministries Network (CMN) has undertaken solid research into the worst-case scenario [...]
Posted by Kevin Jones on September 28, 2010
http://safetyatworkblog.com/2010/09/28/australian-suicide-research-expands-understanding-of-workplace-factors/
Sticking to the big picture
I had cause to give some students an idea of how well OH&S is doing in Oz. The aim was to give these people some big picture numbers that might help them counter the general view that OH&S is over-done, crippled with nanny state perspectives etc etc. Initially I slipped into the mode we tend [...]
Posted by colrf on September 23, 2010
http://safetyatworkblog.com/2010/09/23/sticking-to-the-big-picture/
Radio National OHS program
On 21 September 2010, Radio Australia’s regular program Australia Talks conducted a live interview concerning occupational safety and health. For those who have been listening to the show for some time would have been surprised that the program covered much of the same old OHS ground. Similar statistics, similar questions of what are the most dangerous occupations, similar [...]
Posted by Kevin Jones on September 21, 2010
http://safetyatworkblog.com/2010/09/21/radio-national-ohs-program/
Multiple sources of OHS info are vital for safety lessons
Last week a 48-year-0ld glazier, Darin Johnson, died after he fell 18 metres from an aerial work platform (AWP) in Melbourne Australia. Johnson’s death attracted more media attention than other workplace fatalities because of where he died. The Australian newspaper has been running a political campaign against the Labour government over its stimulus package of school facilities construction. Johnson died on a primary school construction site. [...]
Posted by Kevin Jones on September 20, 2010
http://safetyatworkblog.com/2010/09/20/multiple-sources-of-ohs-info-is-vital-for-safety-lessons/
The stress of the wrongly accused
All work is stressful but by educating ourselves and with the support of colleagues and a strong and healthy professional association, it should be possible to function safely. That is the ideal but reality often seems to fall short. Recently I was contacted by a person who had heard me speak about workplace bullying and [...]
Posted by Kevin Jones on September 20, 2010
http://safetyatworkblog.com/2010/09/20/the-stress-of-the-wrongly-accused/
Never admitting guilt is contrary to OHS principles
Many companies plead guilty to breaches of OHS legislation but remain convinced that they have done nothing wrong. Employers have been constantly frustrated by never being sure that they are complying with OHS law because compliance is now a very grey area and one that few people are brave enough to say has been achieved. [...]
Posted by Kevin Jones on September 16, 2010
http://safetyatworkblog.com/2010/09/16/never-admitting-guilt-is-contrary-to-ohs-principles/
Company pleads guilty over insulation installer death
In June 2010, Arrow Property Maintenance Pty Ltd was charged with failing to conduct its business or undertaking in a way that was electrically safe, after, accoridng to one media report: “[A] 16-year-old boy was electrocuted while installing fibreglass insulation in the ceiling of a home at Stanwell, west of Rockhampton, on November 18, 2009.” [...]
Posted by Kevin Jones on September 14, 2010
http://safetyatworkblog.com/2010/09/14/company-pleads-guilty-over-insulation-installer-death/
Safety begins to converge to focus on the individual
If further information about the increasing inter-relationships between psychosocial health and physical health, organisational culture and a worker’s mental health was needed, a new study from Sweden provides convincing evidence. The research, a study of 81 research projects into the links between psychosocial factors and musculoskeletal disorders, was reported in by Eurofound on 10 September 2010. It found, among other [...]
Posted by Kevin Jones on September 14, 2010
http://safetyatworkblog.com/2010/09/14/safety-begins-to-converge-to-focus-on-the-individual/
Peter Sandman in Australia
On 22 September 2010, Dr Peter Sandman will be conducting a workshop in Sydney Australia entitled Precaution Advocacy – Risk Communication for Occupational Health and Safety and presented by the NSW Minerals Council OHS Workshop . The NSW Minerals Council says “This is a rare opportunity to hear from such a world renowned expert in crisis communication, precautionary advocacy, risk communication [...]
Posted by Kevin Jones on September 13, 2010
http://safetyatworkblog.com/2010/09/13/peter-sandman-in-australia/
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