On 20 March 2016, Scott Spark launched a short series of podcasts as part of the Showcase program on ABC’s Radio National called WorkLife. The fourth episode, set for broadcast on April 10, discusses the relevance of occupational health and safety (OHS) and is based on a couple of interviews with the author of the SafetyAtWorkBlog, Kevin Jones. Continue reading “WorkLife podcast series”
Author: Kevin Jones
Sedentary work risks – two new research reports
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Ernst Young’s latest safety discussion paper
Ernst Young (EY) Australia has released a discussion paper about its “Plus One” strategy for occupational health and safety (OHS) and safety culture change. Perhaps the curious and significant issue raised in the document is the way it considers that the “zero harm” era is over.
The document urges people to “build on the lessons of zero harm”. Some would say that the most important lesson is that “zero harm” is bullshit but EY is almost taking “zero harm” as a fixed point in time, or rather a point in thought, from which progress in a new direction is possible. Continue reading “Ernst Young’s latest safety discussion paper”
Victoria increases OHS penalty three-fold
Victoria’s occupational health and safety (OHS) strategy has been in a bit of a mess since the previous (conservative) government opted out of the harmonised work health and safety law process and brands were changed and changed again. It lost its claim to be leading Australian in OHS, or needed to explain its position, where before most people accepted their leadership position.
The current Victorian (Labor) government seems to be trying to make up some of that ground by increasing financial penalties, as reported by OHSAlert last week. Continue reading “Victoria increases OHS penalty three-fold”
WorkSafe and politicians continue to confuse
On March 4, 2016 WorkSafe Victoria released a media statement with the headline:
“WorkSafe announces new safety record in half-year results”
The headline was reinforced (or the other way round) in the body of the statement with
“The rate of injuries in Victorian workplaces has reached a new record low, according to the half-yearly results released yesterday by WorkSafe Victoria.”
But then states that
“As of 31 December 2015 there were 7 claims per million hours worked (MHW) in Victorian workplaces, compared to 7.34 claims recorded at the end of 2014/15 – a fall of 4.6 per cent.”
So what is it – a record low number of injuries or a record low number of workers’ compensation claims?
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Labour Hire Inquiry submissions address OHS, sort of
The Victorian Government has concluded the public hearing section of its inquiry into Labour Hire. Industrial Relations Minister Natalie Hutchins has said in a media release that
“Evidence has been put to the inquiry suggesting widespread underpayment of award wages, tax avoidance, nonpayment of superannuation, poor occupational health and safety practices, maltreatment of workers and backpackers on visas, and, in some instances, allegations of illegal conduct.”
This article focusses on the occupational health and safety (OHS) evidence provided through the
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Queensland plans for a safety culture for quad bikes
[Guest Post from Dave Robertson of Quadbar]
On March 3 2016, the Queensland government released its “Statewide Plan for Improving Quad Bike Safety”. The document covers a wide range of issues but risk controls like substitution and engineering only get small mention.
According to the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, Grace Grace, the government intends
“…to create a safety culture through education and awareness as the immediate first step toward improving safety outcomes for quad bike users and their passengers.”
It must be noted that the plan covers occupational and recreational use of quad bikes but it is also important that the Statewide Plan does not indicate how the success of the plan and the safety culture model will be assessed.
Continue reading “Queensland plans for a safety culture for quad bikes”