Most submissions to the inquiry into Sentencing Occupational Health and Safety Offences in Victoria are now publicly available. They raise a lot of different issues and some grumbles even though the Sentencing Advisory Council provided some structure to the topics it wanted addressed. A major purpose of any penalty is to deter harmful and damaging actions from being repeated. …
It is almost impossible for occupational health and safety (OHS) people to stop looking at the world through the risk assessment parameters and hierarchies with which they work every day. The Hierarchy of Control could be applied to the COVID19 pandemic with the important lesson that the elimination of a hazard does not only come …
Dr Ciaran McAleenan CEng MICE is the Chair of Institution of Civil Engineers Expert H&S Panel and Lecturer at Ulster University. Ciaran and I have been reading each other for some time and watching many of the same occupational health and safety (OHS) changes. He admitted that some of the questions were challenging, the simplest of … Continue reading “OHS and Ciaran McAleenan”
This week Safe Work Australia commenced another round of public consultation on the recommendations of the Boland Report. There was no hint of this at last week’s WHS Prosecution and Enforcement Conference. That conference had no speaker from SWA but it did have Marie Boland as a keynote speaker, and even she made no mention …
On 31 October 2018, the Queensland Government got tough on safety in its mining and resources sector. But how tough is tough? A press statement says that “Parliament today backed maximum penalties close to $4 million for mining companies that fail to keep their workers safe. As well, mines inspectors will be able to hit …
On October 29 2018, RMIT University and the Safety Institute of Australia conducted a forum on Industrial Manslaughter laws. The mix of presenters offered a respectful discussion on the issue but also illustrated where such proposed legal changes fit. The event was organised and hosted by Gloria Kyriacou-Morosinotto whose introduction listed the questions we should …
This weekend is the International Workers Memorial Day. In Victoria, in particular and in Australia more generally, it is highly likely that the issue of Industrial Manslaughter laws will be raised as part of a trade union campaign. Dr Gerry Ayers, the OHS&E Manager of one of the branches of the CFMEU, features in an … Continue reading “Interview with Dr Gerry Ayers”
