Michael Plowright and I have launched a new limited-series podcast in support of National Safe Work Month.
Safe Work, Real Talk offers a plain-English discussion of the major issues around managing psychosocial hazards and psychological safety at work, bridging the HR and OH&S silos.
We bring together OHS practice, bullying research and real workplace stories to unpack how mental harm happens and how organisations can prevent it.
Continue reading “Psychosocial Conflict & Confusion”Australian employers continue to struggle to understand #psychosocial hazards and psychological harm. A lot of advice competes, conflicts and confuses. So, Michael Plowright and I are joining the effort to make sense of this #mentalhealthatwork challenge in a lively, plain-English way.
You may already follow me through this blog’s SoundCloud account, but this new four-episode podcast series – Safe Work, Real Talk – offers new plain-English perspectives and, we hope,m solutions, or at least pathways.
We’ll talk about #Leadership, what went wrong, what went right, the unhelpful conflict between #HR and #OHS, and return-to-work.
The first episode will be out shortly, with the remaining three episodes rolled out in support of National Safe Work Month.
If you have any questions about work-related psychosocial and psychological issues, email them to this link, and we will try to answer them “on-air”.
Short 5- or 6-minute summaries of SafetyAtWorkBlog articles are available on Apple Podcasts and SoundCloud. The three latest episodes discuss working from home, psychosocial regulations and work-related suicide.
I have tried to stay brief, as we are all busy, and more information, quotes, links, and profiles can be found in the original blog articles.
Please let me know if you find these (clearly) home-produced summaries useful.
I have been writing about the safety of quad bikes and all-terrain vehicles for many years. The debate over quad bike safety was one of the most complex and vicious I have ever seen. In some minds, the issue has been resolved in Australia, but farmers continue to die from these vehicles.
Below is a brief 5-minute video about some of the OHS issues associated with these vehicles. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it, especially if you think a book about the issues would be worthwhile.
The audio will be available soon on the SafetyAtWorkBlog SoundCloud feed.
SafetyAtWorkBlog followed the quad bike safety saga, and dozens of exclusive articles are available for subscribers.
I have had a very positive response to my short audio summaries of SafetyAtWorkBlog articles available through SoundCloud. These free 5 or 6-minute monologues are intended to be short, thought-provoking chats about various aspects of occupational health and safety.
Almost a dozen have been posted over the last few weeks on topics such as suicidality, farm safety, compliance, ethics, COVID-19, seminars, and new books.
If you are interested in quick digestible thought pieces, please consider a free subscription through SoundCloud.
Stream SafetyAtWorkBlog | Listen to podcast episodes online for free on SoundCloud
In this short 6-minute audio episode, I unpack the troubling case of Cleanaway Waste Management’s CEO bonus reduction following three worker deaths and challenge the notion that trimming executive pay is a meaningful consequence, and whether safety is being treated as a KPI or a moral imperative.
With references to Woolworths, Orica, and SGH Group, Kevin explores how corporate Australia responds to workplace fatalities, and why investor pressure—not ethical leadership—often drives change. Featuring insights from the Australian Financial Review and safety scholars Andrew Hopkins and Sarah Maslen, this episode calls for a deeper reckoning with executive accountability and the true cost of preventable deaths.
In the next short audio episode, I discuss the myth of “reasonably practicable” within occupational health and safety (OHS) and the moral implications it carries. Safety is not just about adhering to laws but about upholding values and a moral code in the workplace. Legislation should be viewed as a tool, not a destination, and we must go beyond mere compliance to effectively protect workers from harm.
This thought-provoking discussion is based on an article from SafetyAtWorkBlog, published on August 21, 2025.
