Category: executives

Plain speaking on mental health v nuance

Plain speaking is one of the greatest challenges of any profession. Many professionals struggle to communicate their excellent work and knowledge which has created the moves for Research-To-Practice and specialised communicators (as opposed to public relations advisers). Human Resources (HR) and Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) need communications specialists, or perhaps just interpreters, if a recent article on workers compensation and mental health is anything to go by.

If we are going to achieve a successful and effective change on workplace mental health, we need to start to understand each other.

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Downplaying “the source”

Recently on LinkedIn Audrey McGibbon wrote this about an online article discussing working hours in Europe:

“Working excessively long hours is par for the course in many sectors. The reasons for it are complex. The culture created by the collective leadership shadow makes its presence felt in many ways.”

I am not sure that the reasons are complex but the cultural change may be hard.

I think that the challenge is that there are so many reasons, many that are simple. Some are reasons that are beyond the control of employers but most are not, or at least, those that can have the most effective and positive benefit on the mental health of workers, are not.

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UK workplace survey shows the huge misunderstanding on preventing psychosocial harm

The Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD) has released an important survey of their members about health and wellbeing at work. Amongst many of the findings is that “Stress continues to be one of the main causes of absence” and that “Heavy workloads remain by far the most common cause of stress-related absence…” So how are CIPD members reducing the heavy workloads? They’re not. 78% of respondents are using Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) to “identify and reduce stress”. Options like hiring additional staff or reducing the workload do not even chart. OMG!

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Virtual meeting while driving a car!!

Many companies have policies for driving work and company vehicles safely. Distracted driving has been identified as a high risk activity that contributes to injuries and deaths of road users. Recently, the Victorian road safety regulator introduced bans on touching mobile phones while driving. This has caused enormous debate, mostly from those who do not want to change their habits, about the safety of workers and others on the road.

Although not in Australia, this example in the UK Daily Telegraph (paywalled) on September 22, 2023, illustrates an example of very distracted driving, lying and hypocrisy.

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Toothless enforcement

Ross Gittins is a prominent Australian economics journalist. In The Age on September 20, 2023, he wrote an article about the recent spate of corporations being prosecuted and penalized for breaking the law. Many of his points can also relate to companies and executives breaking occupational health and safety (OHS) laws.

Continue reading “Toothless enforcement”

OHS context in many mainstream news stories, if you look

Occupational health and safety (OHS) is rarely reported on in the mainstream newspapers but every week OHS is there, adding a contect to a scandal or subtext to a public health risk. Last weekend was no different. The Guardian of September 16, 2023 reported on a review of personal relationships by BP, a prison escape, deaths from air pollution, a more relaxed approach to work, shoplifting and customer aggression, and more.

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Tough Treatment for Asbestos Contamination and Thyssen Krupp’s Exit Plan

It’s been years since I have seen anything in the Australian press about companies or individuals being penalised for asbestos contamination. That despite workers telling me since being back in Australia, they have suspected asbestos when demolishing older domestic, cultural and industrial structures or even while digging shallow excavations in preparation for construction or mining.

It seems like Australian fashion for deregulation may have bitten into OHS.

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