executives – SafetyAtWorkBlog

All safety is political. It always has been

My great uncle dug into coal mine tailings with his bare hands to try and rescue the school children and teachers buried during the Aberfan disaster. His own grandchildren died. Both of my grandfathers suffered from lives spent underground; they both died young, one from lung cancer and silicosis.

For me, all safety is political. It always has been. It’s not party-political – but it can be. It’s political in the sense that all decisions in every aspect of our lives are a function of power and authority.

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Politics on display at safety awards night

WorkSafe Vcitoria’s annual awards night for 2024 was held last week. It was an unexceptional night, with around 400 in the audience, most of whom were award finalists and their colleagues. Although unexceptional, it was not dull, as the finalists’ stories were often compelling. However, the event needs a boost. Perhaps not to the flamboyance of earlier this century with over 1000 attendees and dancing into the night, as that would not be a good political look, but it needs something.

What was not notable was the politics of the evening.

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WorkSafe Victoria’s new 5-year plan

At WorkSafe Victoria’s Awards night, Minister Ben Carroll said he was pleased to be involved with WorkSafe’s new 5-Year Plan to be launched on February 28,2025. WorkSafe executive Sam Jenkin summarized the plan’s principal aims in his speech. He said:

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Another Executive leaves WorkSafe Victoria and new psychological regulations announced

For personal reasons, Joe Calafiore, Chief Executive Officer of WorkSafe Victoria, announced his departure today after less than eighteen months. Narelle Beer departed in mid-2024.

Calafiore said in a staff email that:

“This job is 100% or nothing, and at this stage I am unable to commit the full focus that the role requires.”

WorkSafe Victoria Chair Bob Cameron told staff:

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Still insufficient answers to the Delacombe trench deaths

Last week, the Victorian Coroner, Leveasque Peterson, released her findings into the deaths of Charlie Howkins and Jack Brownlee from a trench collapse on a residential construction site in Delacombe in March 2018. The employer, Pipecon, pleaded guilty to occupational health and safety (OHS) law breaches and was successfully prosecuted by WorkSafe Victoria. But the guilty plea meant there was only a cursory investigation of the OHS elements of the incident.

This month’s coronial findings have come without the opportunities offered by a formal inquest. So, where are the answers? What management decisions caused the trench to collapse and lead to the deaths of Jack and Charlie? The available answers seem insufficient. What lessons can be drawn from these legal processes to stop similar incidents occurring elsewhere?

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Work Health and Safety through a new perspective

2025 has started with a flurry of blog activity and more than a flurry of political change in the United States. It is easy to become distracted by those changes, but a refocus on local issues, new thoughts, perspectives, and new books may generate a balance of sanity. Here is a taste of one book that I have not had time to read entirely but that has potential.

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Handy and organisational culture

Charles Handy died in December 2024. He was a prominent author on organisational behaviour and business management and was recognised as a major thinker. It is fair to describe him as a pre-Internet influencer. His ideas never went away, but they faded under the neoliberal onslaught. With the decline of that ideology, Handy’s approach to organisational culture deserves a reread.

Category: executives

All safety is political. It always has been

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Politics on display at safety awards night

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WorkSafe Victoria’s new 5-year plan

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Another Executive leaves WorkSafe Victoria and new psychological regulations announced

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Still insufficient answers to the Delacombe trench deaths

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Work Health and Safety through a new perspective

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Handy and organisational culture

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