Category: executives

Changing the OHS guard

John Merritt is leaving WorkSafe Victoria to head up the Environmental Protection Authority.  Nothing special in such a move as such progression is part of many senior executive public servant’s career plans.  But Victoria’s politicians have started to use this change for political point-scoring on the basis that Merritt is married to Victorian parliamentarian, Maxine Morand.

This is unfortunate but not surprising.  The political argy-bargy implies that John Merritt is undeserving of his new appointment and this is not the case.

I have met John Merritt over a number of years and from before he became the executive director of WorkSafe in 2001.  During his time with the National Safety Council of Australia, there was an air of optimism in this moribund organisation, the same air he brought to WorkSafe.  I interviewed him regularly

Continue reading “Changing the OHS guard”

Changing political support of workplace safety in the US

Occupational health and safety used to be above political argy-bargy.  It was accepted that the safety of workers was a core importance to the management of any business.  Often it operated as a subset of industrial relations and popped its head up occasionally, usually when new of revised legislation was due.  Rarely has workplace safety been a catalyst for political controversy.

In the United States, the last political fight was over the ergonomics  rule under a Republican Bush presidency in 2001.  According to one media report:

“The president has directed Labor Secretary Elaine Chao to find a less expensive way to protect worker health.” Continue reading “Changing political support of workplace safety in the US”

Sandman lecture online

In November 2009, Peter Sandman delivered the Berreth Lecture at the annual conference of the National Public Health Information Coalition (NPHIC).  Significantly Sandman was asked not to present on risk communication but about his experiences in risk communication and how he came to prominence in the field.

The NPHIC has made the 65-minute video of his lecture available on-line. Sandman has the audio available through his website. The speech notes are also available but, as is his wont, Sandman diverges from the “script” frequently.

Continue reading “Sandman lecture online”

Legal professional privilege and safety management

The Safety Institute‘s OHS Professional magazine for December 2009 included an article (originally published in an OHS newsletter from Piper Alderman for those non-SIA members) about the application of legal professional privilege using a New South Wales Industrial Relations Commission decision as its basis (Nicholson v Waco KwikForm Limited).  The case received considerable attention by OHS law firms. Continue reading “Legal professional privilege and safety management”

HSE Chair’s review of 2009

Judith Hackett, Chair of the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE), reviews the performance of the agency in the December podcast produced by the agency.  Transcript is available online

The podcast provides a positive outlook for the HSE which one would expect.  Hackett talks about the need for the HSE to dispel the myths that have been promoted throughout the media and the lack of credibility of the regulator discussed by many in the UK, such as Jeremy Clarkson.   Continue reading “HSE Chair’s review of 2009”

Orewa College explosion update

The New Zealand Department of Labour has released a media statement about the prosecution reported on yesterday but

“The Department will not name either the parties or the specific charges until the charges reach court.”

This may be an indication of the political sensitivities of the prosecution.

A representative of the Orewa College Board of Trustees, Phil Pickford,was interviewed by New Zealand Radio on 21 December 2009.  The interview is available online.

Pickford states that he is proud of the OHS systems that are in place at Orewa College and places Orewa in the top 10% of schools for OHS performance.

It is difficult for anyone to make public statements on an OHS prosecution without knowing who has been charged and with what.

From SafetyAtWorkBlog’s perspective, regardless of any action taken by the DoL, it would have been expected that both the school and the Education Department would have undertaken their own investigations in to the death of one of their own employees, if for no other reason than to stop a similar occurrence in other schools.

A TV report of the explosion from mid-2009 is available online.

Kevin Jones

Director accountability for OHS reinforced by NZ penalty

On April 5 2008, a cool store in New Zealand exploded killing one firefighter and injuring 7 others.  Icepak Coolstore Ltd, according to the fire services investigation report

“[had] very large quantities of combustible material contained in the expanded polystyrene construction panels and also in the foodstuffs stored.

“There were no compliant fire detection or protection systems or hydrants, and very limited firefighting water.”

In July 2008, the New Zealand Department of Labour (DoL) issued a media statement and fact sheet concerning the explosive potential of flammable hydrocarbon refrigerants.

Language warning on the video below

On 15 December 2009, a New Zealand Court penalised two companies and a director with fines totalling over $NZ390,000.  The DoL has issued a media statement about the prosecution results.

The many reports and inquiries into the explosion and fire are very informative but one element that the DoL wants to focus on is the penalty applied to the Director of Icepak Coolstore, Wayne Grattan.  He was

“fined $30,000 on one charge that he acquiesced in the failure of the company to take all practicable steps to ensure the safety of its employees while at work.”

The Department of Labour’s Chief Adviser for Workplace Health and Safety, Dr Geraint Emrys said (click HERE for audio):

“The prosecution against the director of Icepak should serve as a reminder to officers, agents and directors of organisations that they can be held personally accountable for the failures of their organisation.

“Mr Grattan was charged with acquiescing in Icepak’s failure in respect of obligations to its employees.  The outcome of the case against Mr Grattan reinforces the requirements of directors to be proactive in health and safety matters.”

As many Commonwealth countries have a strong commonality of law, the Icepak Coolstore case should be an important case study in many jurisdictions.

Kevin Jones

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