The Standards Paywall Falls but the Politics Remain

From July 2026, the official Australian Standards for occupational health and safety (OHS) management will become freely available. According to page 142 of Budget Papers Number 2, the Australian government will “…. provide $55.2 million over four years from 2026–27 (and $11.6 million per year ongoing) to support implementation of reforms to increase productivity.”...

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Subscribe Help
Already a member? Log in here

Why Leadership Empathy Is Not Enough to Prevent Psychosocial Harm

In 2000, Graeme Cowan‘s world collapsed after the “dot-com crash“, leading to an attempt to end his own life. His new book, “Great Leaders Care: Developing Safe, Resilient and Successful Teams“, is an analysis of the consequences of those times and the tools he discovered to stabilise his mental health. There are two clues to …

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Subscribe Help
Already a member? Log in here

When Ideology Masquerades as Analysis

I pride myself on listening to a broad range of views, so I purchased a recent book called “The Dark Legacy of Daniel Andrews – Assessing the Social and Economic Costs of Australia’s Most Controversial Premier“. Reading it stretched my patience as few of the various writers acknowledged that Premier Dan Andrews saved many lives …

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Subscribe Help
Already a member? Log in here

How Regulatory Ideology Shapes Work Health and Safety Outcomes

Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers and economist and Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz are old friends. One of their conversations was turned into the lead article in the February edition of The Monthly (paywalled). Several of their thoughts impinge on how occupational health and safety (OHS) laws are applied and may be reformed....

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Subscribe Help
Already a member? Log in here

OHS keeps getting sidelined and everyone knows it

Recently, occupational health and safety (OHS) lawyer Steve Bell issued a challenge to all those who provide leadership training to executives. At the annual breakfast for the Australian Health and Safety Institute, supported by Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, Bell shared this leadership training scenario with his panel of experts:...

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Subscribe Help
Already a member? Log in here

The Ignored Costs of Unpaid Overtime

Australia has held an annual “Go Home on Time Day” for many years, but the amount of unpaid work workers give to their employers and the time their families miss out on remains high. Looking at new data in light of the legislative need for Australian employers to identify and assess psychosocial hazards, there are …

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Subscribe Help
Already a member? Log in here