executives – Page 9 – SafetyAtWorkBlog

Boeing’s failures illustrate fundamental flaws in modern business values

Andrew Hopkins’ new safety and management book has landed. It is perhaps his most powerful critique of modern safety-related corporate management as he identifies “big picture” socioeconomic and political factors that directly affect executive decisions. By examining the 737 MAX aeroplane crisis of over 340 customer deaths that Boeing could have prevented, Hopkins discusses the hazardous managerial ideologies that have been idolised and are likely to be present in most companies created in the last 40 years.

The book has aviation in the title, but this is far more than a book about aeroplanes.

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Subscribe Help

Already a member? Log in here

Acknowledgement of safety

Australia is in federal election mode so new political statements are emerging daily. Recently controversy has arisen about the inclusion of Welcome to Country at non-major events. Many organisations lead their meetings with an Acknowledgement of Country which acknowledges the historical ownership of Australia by its indigenous populations.

Recently while reflecting on the International Workers Memorial Day, occupational health and safety (OHS) professional, Tim Allred, has suggested that the role of an “acknowledgement” could add meaning in other circumstances, such as in relation to workplace fatalities.

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Subscribe Help

Already a member? Log in here

We can build better safety from the decline of the free market

Business ethics has never been a significant focus of occupational health and safety (OHS) organisations or regulators beyond what the law says. OHS advisers in companies and through consultation constantly address ethical or unethical behaviour, even though this is rarely discussed at the academic level or outside of the possibility of prosecution. Over the last four decades, neoliberal ideology and policies have given OHS only grudging attention, if any at all. Neoliberalism is gaining more attention in the OHS literature as the socioeconomic and political sources of hazards are finally receiving serious attention. However, most OHS people cannot remember a world before neoliberalism. It is important to remember that trust in the “free market’ on which neoliberalism was built, the promises of wealth for all, and reflect on how worker health and safety suffered.

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Subscribe Help

Already a member? Log in here

6 Essential OHS Questions for Employers

Occupational health and safety (OHS) laws establish duties on employers (and employees) to provide safe and healthy workplaces. These duties reflect the social morals of the time, but the morality of employers is rarely challenged.

Below is a selection of OHS-related questions that all employers should be asked and able to answer. How would you or your employer respond?

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Subscribe Help

Already a member? Log in here

Another case study on a readily preventable work-related suicide

On August 29, 2019, Scott Jordan returned to his Ballarat home from work. He noticed his wife’s car was not parked in its usual location. Scott walked through to the shed looking for Karla Jordan and found her dead by suicide with a notebook on the floor nearby. The Victorian Coroner’s Prevention Unit “considered Ms Jordan’s workplace environment was the primary stressor in the lead up to her acute mental health decline and suicide”. The Coroner’s findings provide an important case study for examining psychosocial hazards in the workplace.

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Subscribe Help

Already a member? Log in here

Established OHS knowledge needs a boost

Workplace psychological health has been dominated by wellness advocates for several decades. Occupational health and safety (OHS) is seen by many as an interloper with “new” regulations that impose rules, expectations, notifications, and records on a corporate wellness sector that has been hugely influential on employers’ perspectives of mental health at work. This interjection by OHS “upstarts” does not stand up to examination. Social determinants of health have included work factors for many years. Richard G Wilkinson wrote about the psychosocial causes of illness in 1997, providing a helpful perspective applicable today.

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Subscribe Help

Already a member? Log in here

Narelle Beer’s OHS article should be the start of a deeper analysis

Recently former WorkSafe Victoria executive, Dr Narelle Beer, penned an article in LinkedIn called “Going to work should not kill you!” The article is a good introduction to occupational health and safety (OHS) but some important points are overlooked or unexplored.

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Subscribe Help

Already a member? Log in here