Author: Kevin Jones

The future of work and OHS – yeah, but…..

ASHPA, the Australian Safety and Health Professional Associations has been quiet for a while but sponsored La Trobe University to undertake some research into the future of work and its impacts on occupational health and safety (OHS) professionals, hygienists, ergonomists and others.  It is an interesting insight into the thoughts and perspectives of safety and health professionals but it also cries out for interpretation and analysis.

The report, not yet available online, is based on the responses of 733 safety and health professionals to an online survey.  The statistical profile of the profession in Australia is useful and the key findings

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SafetyAtWorkBlog update – Episode 6

The sixth video update of SafetyAtWorkBlog activity is now available for viewing below or at our YouTube channel.

In the update I bring you up to date with some of the recent blog coverage but also what I have been involved with over the last couple of months as well as some interesting conference coming.

No book mentions in this update but there will be a brief review of lots of books in the next update later this week.

Kevin Jones

Queensland enforces its labour hire laws while Victoria is still working theirs out

Sunset over Lockyer Valley, in South East Queensland, Australia.

The Queensland government was the first Australian State to introduce a licencing scheme for the providers of contract workers and temporary labour.  As a result, enforcement activity by the regulator there will likely set the scene for similar actions in other States particularly as Victoria has opened it public consultation on its labour hire regulations. Sadly workplace health and safety seems to have been overlooked in Victoria’s draft labour hire regulations and current consultation process.

Last week the Queensland Government

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It’s not about doing the least possible but about doing the best

It is almost impossible to underestimate the impact that Australia’s Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation
and Financial Services Industry is already having on the corporate cultures of Australian businesses.  The effective management of occupational health and safety (OHS) relies on effective consultation, trust and respect just as does any other element in a company’s organisational culture.

The media on August 13 2018 has been

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Social Licence provides opportunities for OHS improvement

Trust is an essential element of effective business management, as relevant to consultation over occupational health and safety (OHS) matters as it between a business and its clients.  Increasingly there is discussion about a “social licence” or a “social licence to operate” in relation to OHS.  In many ways this is a response to the perceived heartlessness of neoliberal economics and social interactions, a response that the OHS profession needs to seriously examine.

In November 2017, New Zealand company

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‘Thin’ advice on the management of change

The managerial tempo for many decades was stable, stable, stable, new management = restructuring, stable, stable….  Occupational health and safety (OHS) was relevant, if allowed, during the restructuring process when injuries, psychological illnesses and workers compensation claims increased.  The frequency of those restructures has increased, often in relation to executive churn, to a point when an organisation seems to be in a state of constant instability, resulting in an increased role for OHS and a major focus on Change Management.

The Harvard Business Review (HBR) has released an article Continue reading “‘Thin’ advice on the management of change”

Firefighting, WorkCover and OHS

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia – 2011 July 10: Fire fighters supporting colleague on roof gaining access to a garage on fire in an residential area.

Some years ago there was a rumour that no workers’ compensation claims by firefighters employed by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) were investigated and/or rejected by the MFB. The reason was that the United Firefighters’ Union would question any investigation on behalf of its members which would likely result in increased industrial relations tension.

Workers compensation data obtained by SafetyAtWorkBlog from the MFB under Freedom of Information seems to have scotched that rumour but does provide some interesting information which may also justify radical workplace health and safety thinking for this sector.

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