The importance of evidence in addressing workplace mental health issues

At the recent Scientific Meeting of the Australia and New Zealand Society of Occupational Medicine (ANZSOM), Allison Milner stepped in for an ill Tony La Montagne and added value to his intended presentation on workplace mental health. This meeting is different from other conferences in one particular way, in relies on evidence and not marketing for its presentations.  This difference made Milner’s presentation very powerful.

Milner set the scene with a broad picture of mental health:

“1 in 5 Australians have a mental illness, which equivalates to about 1.5 million.  And over 3000 people lose their life to suicide every year, and the vast majority of these people being men.  But suicide affects far more people than those people who attempt or sadly lose their life.  It affects their work colleagues, it affects people in our community and it affects our family.”

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ACCI on silicosis

The business sector of Australia has been remarkably quiet on the recent media attention given to hazard of silicosis in, particularly, the synthetic stone commonly used as kitchen benchtops.  However the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) did make a media statement.

It largely emphasised its role as a member of Safe Work Australia and the action taken on silicosis matters through that mechanism.  However membership of a tripartite consultative mechanism does not mean that that is the only pathway for change.  SafetyAtWorkBlog put some questions to ACCI about silicosis and its Associate Director, Work Health & Safety and Workers’ Compensation Policy, Jennifer Low, responded:

SAWB: The media statement says that ACCI will continue to be active through its representation on Safe Work Australia.  Are there any specific dust-related initiatives that ACCI is recommending to its members?  Perhaps in relation to supply chain safety on high silica-content products? Continue reading “ACCI on silicosis”

Families get a good deal from the Industrial Deaths inquiry

Photo credit: Workplace Safety Services

Will the recommendations of the Senate Committee’s inquiry into industrial deaths benefit relatives of deceased workers? Yes, mostly.

It seemed like relatives gained greater access to this Senate Committee than in other inquiries.  Some public hearings were held with only relatives presenting.  This is a major change.  The transcripts of the 2012

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Start the bullying epidemic without me

Australia has been told for a long time that workplace bullying was an epidemic.  Recent data seems to indicate that workplace bullying is a persistent problem which, to some extent, has blended into the miasma that is work-related mental health.  The Fair Work Commission released its 2017/18 Annual Report on October 18 (not yet online) adding further doubt to the epidemic claims.

Below is a comparison graph (page 19) of FWC activity which shows 721 applications concerning workplace bullying. It is ninth in the list of FWC activities.

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OHS managers sought for student survey

Recently I attended an occupational health and safety (OHS) conference in New Zealand which had a good representation of students.  One, Catherine Boyle, has an online survey operating for OHS managers and she is looking for participants.

As a health and safety professional working in a managerial capacity, you are invited to participate in a research project. This project aims to identify the health and safety behaviours that you either engage in or delegate to others in your workplace. This research is being conducted as part of a Masters dissertation in Applied Psychology. Your involvement will entail the completion of a brief survey, which should take no more than fifteen minutes. Participation is voluntary, confidential and anonymous. The results of the project may be published but there will be complete confidentiality of the data gathered. You will also have access to the results of the research should you wish to see them. If you are willing to participate in this research, please click on the link below. Thank you in advance for your participation.  

http://canterbury.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_d0EFmjaxLW9afKl

 Masters Student, Catherine Boyle, University of Canterbury, New Zealand. 

Kevin Jones

New OHS conference tries new approaches and succeeds

L to R, Tim Allred, Matt Jones, Kevin Jones

Matt Jones has been accused of self-promotion in the establishment of the Health and Safety Professionals New Zealand (HSPNZ) and the group’s first physical conference. Such accusations are made to many people who are “just going to give it a go” and see what happens.  Mostly Jones has succeeded.  Only one speaker made a blatant sales pitch when he misunderstood the audience which were conference delegates, not potential clients. But when Jones succeeded, he succeeded well. Continue reading “New OHS conference tries new approaches and succeeds”

Multidisciplinary analysis of safety culture

Managing occupational health and safety (OHS) is most successful when it considers a range of perspectives or disciplines in identifying practicable solutions.  Books are often successful in a similar multidisciplinary way but it is becoming rarer for books to contain a collection of perspectives.  A new book has been published on Safety Culture which matches this multidisciplinary approach.

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