business – Page 5 – SafetyAtWorkBlog

Audio summary on Executive Bonuses

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.

More OHS voices needed

A new discussion paper from Safe Work Australia (SWA) is interesting in a curious way. Its purpose is confusing, and its final report will not be presented until mid-2026. SWA offers no definition of “best practice” but suggests that consideration should start from the objective of the Model Work Health and Safety Act:

“….to ensure the model WHS laws continue to provide a balanced and nationally consistent framework to secure the health and safety of workers and workplaces.”

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Fix the Cake, Not Just the Icing

The Australian Psychological Services has provided some excellent advice on what to look out for when arranging speakers for October, which is both Mental Health Month and National Safe Work Month.

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The Seductiveness of Action Without Change

The challenge in addressing psychosocial hazards at work comes not from the dangers posed but from the executives’ willingness to change. Recently, David Burroughs reflected on his years of advising executives on this hazard. Burroughs’ experience of corporate responses to workplace bullying is indicative of the challenge of organisational change.

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Why are the bosses’ knickers in a twist over work-from-home?

Two major Australian media outlets are continuing to focus on the issue of working from home (WFH), criticising the concept and some local political moves. WFH offers some significant mental health benefits that are being largely ignored. The front page of The Australian newspaper for September 1, 2025, provides the latest example.

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Australia’s Safety Blindspot

Australia’s Economic Roundtable recycled the same institutions and failed metrics that have long masked our productivity crisis. As Amy Remeikis notes, those who shaped past policy failures now feign surprise at the fallout. Meanwhile, important drivers of productivity, such as safe and quality work, remain ignored. OHS is treated as a compliance chore, rather than a strategic asset. If the Albanese government truly wants productivity reform, it must stop listening only to the “profit class” and start measuring what matters: worker health, dignity, and contribution.

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When Safety Is Optional: The OHS Blind Spot in Childcare Abuse Reform

Improvements in safety and health at work are almost always begun after fatalities, catastrophes and scandals. This says much about the prominence of occupational health and safety (OHS) in Australian society. The latest industrial scandal is in the childcare industry. Non-compliance with safety requirements was exposed in March 2025, but now allegations of sexual abuse of babies, toddlers and children have been levelled against several workers. The industry and the governments that oversee it are struggling to identify solutions. OHS can provide a legal and managerial framework, as determined in a safety review published only last week.

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