Employers struggle to know if their businesses comply with the local occupational health and safety (OHS) or work health and safety (WHS) laws. They always have and, likely, always will. Employers are hungry for certainty and are often annoyed with OHS advisers who refuse to give a definitive answer to the question in this article’s …
On February 13th, 2024, the International Technical Committee (ISO TC 283) responsible for the design and development of ISO 45004:2024 OH&S Performance Evaluation reported that the Final Draft International Standard (FDIS) ballot yielded 54/55 supporting votes, equating to a very strong 98% international ballot approval. ISO 45004:2024 is intended to help organisations to effectively monitor, … Continue reading “New international standard for evaluating OHS performance”
First, there was brainwashing, then greenwashing and safewashing. Could the well-being industry be accused of safewashing? Has well-being had its day in the sun? The first use of safewash to describe presenting occupational health and safety (OHS) information in a diffused truth was in the 2016 research paper by Sharron O’Neill, Jack Flanagan and Kevin …
In November 2023, Australia’s National Heavy Vehicle Regulator released a “case learning” about a successful prosecution and sentence that the NHVR described as “One of the most serious examples of a breach under the HVNL [Heavy Vehicle National Laws]” The seriousness of the breach is perhaps reflected in the fine of A$2.3 million. It is …
One of the most common complaints of newly graduated workers has been that although the university has provided a lot of knowledge, the courses are short on practical management skills. Occupational health and safety (OHS) is no different. One may learn about the social determinants of health but may have poor skills in managing or …
On March 17 2023, the Australian government released the Productivity Commission’s latest 5-year Productivity Inquiry report. At well over a thousand pages, few people are going to read it to the level it deserves. Nor will I, but I have dipped into it and found a couple of important comments that relate directly to the …
Large consulting firms have been getting a hammering lately. Fraud, leaking information, work-related suicides, corruption, unethical behaviour……. I bet they are nostalgic for the good old days when they were primarily auditors. There are several occupational health and safety (OHS) connections with the Big4, Big3 or Big 7. Auditing is the obvious overlap, but several …
