On 4 August 2009, John Merritt, Executive Director of WorkSafe Victoria, spoke at an OHS function hosted by the Australian Human Resources Institute in Melbourne. John is a lively speaker whose passion for workplace safety is obvious. I had the opportunity to ask the following question “How is reasonably practicable NOT a ‘get-out-jail-free card’?” Many … Continue reading “John Merritt and ‘reasonably practicable’”
The WorkSafe Victoria Awards Night for 2022 contained three main speeches: Pearson Pearson’s speech contained a couple of elements that implied it was written by someone without a deep understanding or history of OHS in Victoria. He mentioned “Kaizen” which was a blast from the past, being associated with lots of Lean managements and Six …
Pam Gurner-Hall is no stranger to this blog. Recently she appeared in an article by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) about access to information from South Australia’s occupational health and safety (OHS) regulator, SafeWorkSA. SafeWorkSA has been under considerable scrutiny for the last few years. A “root and branch” review conducted by John Merritt is …
Almost all the government agencies that regulate occupational health and safety (OHS) in Australia have been subjected to various independent inquiries. These inquiries have been a mix of political, financial and cultural. The review of SafeworkSA closes submissions at the end of this week. SafeWorkNSW is to have a six-month audit (paywalled) of its performance …
The WorkSafe Awards night for 2021 was postponed a couple of times from its traditional date in Workplace Health and Safety Month, October. The April 21, 2022, event held the potential for a political statement, given that 2022 is an election year for Victoria, and the event was held one week before International Workers Memorial …
Legal interpretations dominate occupational health and safety (OHS). Understandably, if OHS is only determined by laws, but if the safety of workers is a moral imperative to you, the law is less significant. This latter perspective is rarely voiced, and one of the most important elements of OHS law is compliance “as far as is …
Lisa Stevens is an Australian OHS professional who specialises in laboratory and chemical safety through her own company. Lisa is the latest in this series of profiles intended to humanise those who are interested, or active, in workplace health and safety How did I get into Health and Safety? My first taste of health and … Continue reading “OHS and Lisa Stevens”
