This is a guest post by Michael Quinlan & Dr Elsa Underhill (links added). In mid- August 2020 Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews labelled insecure work as toxic and argued a fundamental policy reset was required into the future. He stated: Insecure work is toxic. There is nothing good about insecure work, and when this is … Continue reading “Precarious Work, Pandemics and Australia’s Future – Let’s Not Forget the Link”
2015 has been a big year for public attention on the exploitation of workers. In May, the Four Corners program revealed the exploitation of, largely, migrant or illegal workers in the food processing and vegetable growing sectors. In the last month, 7Eleven workers have featured, also after a Four Corners investigation in conjunction with Fairfax …
British Standards Institute has just published BS30480, a standard called “Suicide and the workplace – Intervention, prevention and support for people affected by suicide – Guide”. It has come at the right time to show that the changes in psychological health at work in Australia are not in isolation. Note: this article discusses workplace suicide …
Australia’s Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, has talked about occupational health and safety (OHS)….. a bit. On November 4, 2025, the PM addressed the IndustriALL Global Union 4th Congress. According to the congress’ website it: ‘…will bring together trade union representatives from around the world to discuss the future of work and reinforce their collective commitment …
Recently WorkSafe Victoria revealed that in 2025: “In the first half of this year, 174 Workcover claims have been lodged from the construction industry, from falls alone. A further 34 businesses have been charged and another 28 duty holders faced legal action, accumulating more than 2.54 million in fines, undertakings and costs. That already tops …
Michael Belzer and Michael Quinlan have outlined the economics of occupational health and safety (OHS) in the editorial of the latest edition of The Economic and Labour Relations Review. This contrasts with earlier research about the business case for OHS as it broadens the pool of influences more broadly. They write: “The economic approaches to …
To understand occupational health and safety (OHS), you must understand the broader topic of work. Work is not necessarily more complex than OHS, but there are more opportunities to be distracted. Earlier this year, Andrea Komlosy‘s excellent analysis of work—”Work—The last 1,000 years“—was published in English for the first time. The book hardly discusses OHS, …
