Category: business

A bad day for ACCI at the Senate Inquiry into Industrial Deaths

Jennifer Low, Associate Director of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry addressed the Senate Inquiry into Industrial Deaths in Perth on August 30 2018.  Much of her presentation would be familiar to occupational health and safety professionals as it reflects the ideological position that the ACCI has put to countless inquiries over almost 20 years.  It is fair to say that the ACCI did not have a good day at the Inquiry.

Low’s presentation commenced with a restating of the general commitments to safety and that the ACCI and its members hold the importance of OHS as a “fundamental belief”. This was followed up with

“Our employer network feels strongly that the prevention for workplace incidents, injuries and fatalities is a shared responsibility.” (page 1, emphasis added)

This

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Subscribe Help
Already a member? Log in here

Safety At Work Talks – Eldeen Pozniak

Canadian safety professional, Eldeen Pozniak, has been touring the Australian and New Zealand occupational health and safety conference over the next few weeks.  I was able to have a coffee with her earlier this week in Melbourne where we talked about

  • HSE credibility
  • Royal Family security logistics
  • Paw Patrol and OHS education
  • ISO45001, and
  • The workplace impacts of Canada’s impending legalisation of cannabis.

Industrial Manslaughter laws explained to Senate inquiry

The trade union push for Industrial Manslaughter laws in Australia continues as the various State and Federal elections loom.  Last week the Senate Inquiry into Industrial Deaths heard the clearest explanation of the need for these laws for some time as Dr Paul Sutton of the Victorian Trades Hall Council went beyond the usual chants of “what do we want? when do we want it?”

Sutton’s proposal for the Victorian laws differs from Queensland’s by taking inspiration from England  to pierce the corporate veil to the senior manager level rather than leaving it at the top executive level. 

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Subscribe Help
Already a member? Log in here

One billboard outside Melbourne, Victoria

The Safety Institute of Australia (SIA) is likely to have a different brand name in a couple of months.  Following a member survey some weeks ago SIA Board members have been travelling Australia consulting with members.  This may seem a bit arse about face but a process without consultation would have been a major problem.

Last night was Melbourne’s turn with a forum of about a dozen people hosted by Naomi Kemp.  The survey results are inconclusive so should the rebranding exercise proceed?

Kemp provided some context

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Subscribe Help
Already a member? Log in here

SafeWorkSA described as dysfunctional and immature

South Australia’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) conducted its last public hearing into SafeWork SA on August 31 2018.  The Counsel Assisting, Holly Stanley, made several recommendations for improving SafeWork SA’s performance and governance, including body cameras for inspectors.  Rather than wrapping up the inquiry with this public hearing, Commission  Bruce Lander has asked for further submissions about these latest recommendations.

Stanley clearly stated  the conditions from which she was making her recommendation such as resource restrictions, previous

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Subscribe Help
Already a member? Log in here

An iron fist in a velvet glove to HR over psych claims

Dr Rebecca Michalak has just published an extraordinary article calling on the Human Resources profession and many others to take a good, hard look at how they treat workers who may have been subjected to psychological pressures at work.

Human Resources personnel could feel particularly hard done by but Michalak stresses that there are many players in the process of creating and managing psychologically healthy workplace and of not adequately managing psychologically injured workers.  She makes her proposition clear up front:

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Subscribe Help
Already a member? Log in here

Safety Leadership is a thing and not a person

For many years now workplace health and safety conferences have discussed Leadership and how it is vital to the establishment of appropriate safety performance and, often, the establishment of a safety culture.  NSCA Foundation’s SafetyCONNECT conference was no different in some ways but there was a major concession in the last couple of the minutes of the conference.

Many presenters implied, or stated, that Leadership is a critical element of successful safety management.  They also said that safety starts from the top.  It is not unreasonable to interpret these statements as meaning that Leadership is embodied in the Chief Executive Officer, Senior Executive or Director and that safety trickles down through the management structures like neoliberal nonsense.

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Subscribe Help
Already a member? Log in here
© Workplace Safety Services P/L (ABN: 68091088621) and SafetyAtWorkBlog, 2008-2026. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Kevin Jones and SafetyAtWorkBlog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Concatenate Web Development
© Designed and developed by Concatenate Aust Pty Ltd