Category: communication

Outcomes of an agriculture OHS roundtable

New South Wales recently ran its annual roundtable for the agriculture sector, focusing on workplace health and safety. A joint media release from the Ministers for Agriculture and Work Health and Safety, Tara Moriarty and Sophie Cotsis, respectively, acknowledged that:

“Agriculture remains one of Australia’s most dangerous industries, with consistently high rates of workplace fatalities and serious injuries. In 2024, SafeWork NSW responded to 12 workplace fatalities in the agricultural industry in NSW.”

But what was the outcome of the roundtable?

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Australia needs an “OHS for HR” book

SafeWorkSA has published fascinating information about preventing “harmful workplace behaviours.” The webpage’s eye-catching part is the Hierarchy of Controls for Managing the Risk of Harmful Workplace Behaviours, but the article is curious.

The audience for information from occupational health and safety (OHS) regulators is supposedly everyone, but it is rarely read by anyone other than OHS advocates. However, any information about psychosocial risks and hazards needs to be written in a tone that attracts the attention of those in businesses who have established ownership of these hazards, primarily the Human Resources (HR) person. SafeWorkSA’s page fails to reach this target.

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The 2024 WorkSafe Victoria Awards night

At the end of February 2025, WorkSafe Victoria held its annual awards night. The event met all of its requirements on the night—recognizing excellence and rewarding it—but it should also be a launching pad for innovation in occupational health and safety (OHS) and a media event in the broadest sense.

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Authentic selves, culture and racism

Culture has perhaps become the dominant theme in modern occupational health and safety (OHS). Possibly more dominant than Leadership. Culture remains an amorphous concept that is an inclusive adjective but also unhelpful.

Several recent events started making connections in my OHS brain that I am still working through:

  • Online racist statements by two Australian nurses
  • A Harvard Business Review Special Issue called “The Secrets of Great Culture” and
  • An article by Professor Lena Wang and others on the separation of work and life.
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Hi-viz clothing is “a major cultural symbol of our time”

The Conversation offers a brief history of the introduction of high-visibility workwear to Australian workplaces. The authors, Elizabeth Humphrys, Bettina Frankham and Jesse Adams Stein, offer four reasons why ” Hi-Viz” has become a “major cultural symbol of our time” and beyond its obvious safety benefits.

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Two very different Safe Work Month events

In the last week of October 2024, which is Australia’s National Safe Work Month, WorkSafe Victoria held two notable webinars: “Addressing and improving health and safety issues in the workplace” and ” Prevent and manage psychosocial hazards in the workplace.” The themes were occupational health and safety (OHS), but the webinars differed greatly in content and presentation.

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Many employers remain unaware of positive duties to prevent sexual harassment at work

A new report on sexual harassment at work by Ourwatch has been reported on by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). The report says:

“…. found 40 per cent of workplace leaders surveyed were unaware of their new legal obligations to prevent workplace sexual harassment.”

Given that the core legislative obligation to prevent sexual harassment is over 40 years old, perhaps better questions could have been asked.

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