Category: consultation

LTIFRs (sort of) gone from Australia Post

The Communications Division of the CEPU has been in negotiations with Australia Post for some time to establish a pathway to better industrial relations.  On 18 March 2010 a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed between the two parties, committing both to progress.

Of direct OHS interest is the following paragraph in the media statement about the MOU:

“As a gesture of good faith the MOU contains commitments from all parties that will apply immediately:

  • Australia Post will host a summit in April between senior executives including the Managing Director and senior CEPU representatives on the future challenges facing the business, the unions and their members; and
  • The removal of Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate’s in bonus targets for managers.”

Whether OHS will be discussed at the summit is unknown but the removal of LTIFR is of significance to OHS professionals.

Continue reading “LTIFRs (sort of) gone from Australia Post”

Two new free OHS magazines from Australia

Two interesting and useful OHS publications have been released in Australia.  The West Australian Division of the Safety Institute of Australia has published its Australian Safety Matters magazine.  It is freely downloadable and available HERE.

The second is a publication from Workplace Standards Tasmania and relates particularly to OHS issues related to the electrical, gas, plumbing and building industries.  It’s published twice a year and is available for free download HERE.

Abuse, egos, corporate governance and the safety profession

On 15 March 2010, the National President of the Safety Institute of Australia (SIA), Barry Silburn, distributed an email to the 3,600 SIA members strongly refuting the “unsubstantiated claims of irregularities” that were, apparently made by Gavin Waugh, Western Australian Division President and former National Secretary, in a member discussion forum and email circulated to members a couple of days earlier.

Many SIA members will be perplexed by having such an email lob in their inbox without any explanatory background and with obtuse language.  In some ways the email reads like the accountant has done a runner to spend all the members’ money at the casino. Continue reading “Abuse, egos, corporate governance and the safety profession”

OHS due diligence and safety management

In the February 2010 newsletter for Australian law firm, DLAPhillips Fox, Andrew Ball and Donna Trembath wrote about one of the important elements of the model Work, Health & Safety Act – due diligence.   We look at how SafetyAtWorkBlog and other OHS information services can support due diligence on OHS matters.

Ball and Trembath list 6 elements in the definition of due diligence (in bold):

Acquire and have up to date knowledge of work OHS matters.

This first element is where business and OHS information sources are going to be crucial supporters.  OHS law in Australia has always supported the need for companies and safety professionals to maintain a current state of knowledge.  There have always been newsletters on OHS issues but it is very easy to fall into a habit of reading only the information that will assist one in their job rather than getting information that relates to safety throughout a workplace.  The use of Health & Safety representatives or OHS Committees can be important in maintaining a “corporate” state of knowledge.  Delegation of reading information can be very useful and HSRs and OHS Committees are probably the most neglected preventative tools in the safety professionals toolbox. Continue reading “OHS due diligence and safety management”

Discussion paper on Queensland workers compensation released

The Queensland Government has released a public discussion paper into its workers’ compensation scheme.  Obviously this was part of the reason for the political argy-bargy in the State in late February 2010 over a report by Deloitte.

A major question posed in the discussion paper concerns the application of Whole Person Impairment (WPI) or Work-Related Impairment (WRI) as the assessment process.  Currently only Queensland applies WRI and so the submissions to this discussion process may be quite useful in anticipation of the any review into the national workers’ compensation arrangements.   Continue reading “Discussion paper on Queensland workers compensation released”

Good bullying advice needs grounding in prevention

Recently SafetyAtWorkBlog discussed the quality of media releases on OHS matters.  A very good one was received the other day from Firefly Marketing.  The noticeable quality of this release is that although its purpose is to promote a conference, the release provides fresh and unique comments that have stand-alone benefits.

The statement includes several comments concerning workplace bullying.

Regulator

WorkSafe Victoria‘s media manager, Michael Birt  says

“The death of Brodie Panlock has received the most media attention of any WorkSafe Victoria prosecution – ever.  The case was covered extensively by Australia’s national media but was even reported in countries from the Netherlands to Russia.  The details will stay on Google forever.  The actions of Brodie’s tormentors will follow them.” Continue reading “Good bullying advice needs grounding in prevention”

US report is aimed at the wrong workplace safety target

A media release from Utah in the United States has been circulating through the internet overnight that claims:

“A new study released today by VitalSmarts found that five threats to workers’ safety are commonly left undiscussed and lead to avoidable injury or fatalities.” [link added]

The release lists those five threats as:

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