communication – Page 44 – SafetyAtWorkBlog

Multiple sources of OHS info are vital for safety lessons

Last week a 48-year-0ld glazier, Darin Johnson, died after he fell 18 metres from an aerial work platform (AWP) in Melbourne Australia. Johnson’s death attracted more media attention than other workplace fatalities because of where he died.

The Australian newspaper has been running a political campaign against the Labour government over its stimulus package of school facilities construction. Johnson died on a primary school construction site.

The Australian emphasised the location of the death and chose to emphasise union comments that builders in the school building program cut costs. Continue reading “Multiple sources of OHS info are vital for safety lessons”

Peter Sandman in Australia

On 22 September 2010, Dr Peter Sandman will be conducting a workshop in Sydney Australia entitled Precaution Advocacy – Risk Communication for Occupational Health and Safety and presented by the NSW Minerals Council OHS Workshop .

The NSW Minerals Council says

“This is a rare opportunity to hear from such a world renowned expert in crisis communication, precautionary advocacy, risk communication and outrage management.”

Having corresponded with Peter for many years and having interviewed him for a couple of hours several years back I can say that I learned much (poor quality audio available HERE). If I was in Sydney, this would be a must-attend event. More information on the Sandman workshop is available by emailing the organiser.

For those who have not been exposed to Peter’s lectures and writings, he has a series of articles concerning BP’s Gulf of Mexico problems that are instructive.

Kevin Jones

Australia’s Safety Week

The last week of October each year is Safety Week in Australia. It exists under different names in each State but everyone coordinates events for the same time each year. Below are some links for further information, some are more developed than others.

In 2009, I was a Safety Ambassador for Safe Work Australia and found that if one was prepared to give, the rewards were ten-fold.

If you are in Australia I strongly recommend attending one of the many free OHS information events. If you are outside Australia, regularly check the Australia OHS regulator websites for some innovative approaches to safety and its promotion.

Australian Capital Territory (yes, the ACT has a month of activities)

Western Australia

South Australia

Kevin Jones

Are OHS inductions sound?

Mostly no.

Over the years I have experienced site safety inductions that have involved sitting in front of a television and video player in a shed and then telling the safety manager I watched the induction video and understood it.

I have sat in a site shed with a dozen others and endured an induction of scores of PowerPoint presentations and a questionnaire that was, almost, workshopped and did not represent any understanding of the work site’s OHS obligations.

There have been long inductions where there is a lot of information but no handbooks to take away or to refer to later.

There have been OHS inductions that have involved no more than “there are the toilets, the tea room is over there and there’s a fire extinguisher here somewhere”.

Bad induction is an unforgiveable flaw in a company’s safety management system and clearly indicates a careless attitude of companies towards their employees’ and contractors’ safety. The significance of induction should not be underestimated because it has two purposes – to establish a common state of knowledge of all workers on a site before one starts work and to have a reference point for investigations of any incidents. Continue reading “Are OHS inductions sound?”

A gut feeling for workplace risk

We all do it, we use language to both inform and at times mislead. However, when the latter happens in the field of OHS it can be a very damaging to standards. I’d like to draw attention to one such (class of) circumstance but I’m not sure that the very language I need to use as demonstration will be acceptable within this communication domain.

Some years back I tried to provide a means for linguistic interaction between some academic language and that of workers. I hoped that parcels of theory and practice could interact to highlight strengths and weaknesses, as a kind of OHS reality check. Once a word or a concept is understood communication has only started as an approximation. I was trying to allude to other, subtler tools of language that must also be understood. For example, it’s important to take note of tone, irony, sarcasm, analogy and metaphor. These are all tools used in ordinary conversations, they not only deliver information, but may in fact provide pointers to essential meanings intended. It’s hardly news to state that even a pause or a comma can make all the difference. Try, “What is this thing called ‘Love’?” and “What is this thing called, Love?”

I asked a worker on a large demolition project (that within a year killed a man) how good was the local OHS system and how well was it supported by management. The response was less than enthusiastic. I then tried to get a sense for actual OHS practice, I needed a real example. I asked this measured, neck-tattooed forklift operator of about 56 how he decided what size and type of forklift to use for which load. Was there a policy? Was there a standard operating procedure (SOP)? Was there any written document…….. or what? He was sitting at the time in one of the heavy forklifts on the site, a large machine about to lift and shift a huge load. Continue reading “A gut feeling for workplace risk”

Montara oil spill report still not released and restlessness is increasing

At least one state government in Australia is becoming annoyed with the delayed release of the investigation report in to the Montara oil spill in the Timor Sea in 2009. The Federal Government has had the final report for almost one month.

In an ABC media report:

“The Country Liberals environment spokesman Peter Chandler [said] “There’s only one reason that anyone would want to stall releasing a report [and that] is because the report’s damning of perhaps both the Territory Government and the Federal Government in this matter,”….

The Australian Greens are also pursuing the final report.

Although the report will be of direct relevance to the oil and gas industries in Australia, the international significance from parallels with the BP Gulf of Mexico leak cannot be ignored. This resonance could also be part of the report’s delay as the government refines a media strategy for the release.

The need for cautious assessment is understandable but it is just possible that an early release of the final report will assist in the United States’ control and remediation measures in the Gulf, the prevention of similar incidents in the hundreds of existing and planned deep sea oil rigs in the US and avoid the Federal election hoo-ha that seems to have already begun in Australia.

Kevin Jones

ICAP Congress of Applied Psychology is a neglected OHS resource

In July 2010, Melbourne Australia is hosting the 2010 conference of the International Congress of Applied Psychology. What was an OHS consultant at this conference? The question should be why wasn’t OHS consultants at this conference?

This conference is not about workplace safety, per se. It is about how people think and communicate. It provides research (some would say evidence), often about how people relate to each other at work. The exciting content of this ICAP Conference makes the Safety In Action Conference look like a history lesson.

The conference has made the full program and the speaker abstracts online, for free. Both are big PDF files but are excellent resources for those OHS professionals looking for the latest research into bullying, driver safety, health & wellbeing, organisational behaviour, leadership, fatigue, stress and other issues. Continue reading “ICAP Congress of Applied Psychology is a neglected OHS resource”

Category: communication

Multiple sources of OHS info are vital for safety lessons

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Peter Sandman in Australia

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Australia’s Safety Week

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Are OHS inductions sound?

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A gut feeling for workplace risk

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Montara oil spill report still not released and restlessness is increasing

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ICAP Congress of Applied Psychology is a neglected OHS resource

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