Over coffee with colleagues yesterday, I spoke a lot about the sociological context of work and occupational health and safety. I realised I was echoing many of the points I made in an article from February 2024, so I revisited that article on Limitarianism and produced this short 5-minute summary of the issue.
Category: health
Resilience training as a “veneer of care”
Last month, the Sunday Times published an article with a concerning headline: “Resilience training for Gen Z is booming — and that’s no bad thing” (paywalled). Resilience training for psychological safety at work has not been discredited, but there is plenty of evidence showing it is insufficient and inappropriate as a primary strategy for preventing psychological harm. This evidence is being reflected in Australia’s Codes and guidance for managing psychological safety.
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Why Your “Wellbeing Morning Tea” Won’t Impress a Regulator
[This is an attempt at satire]
In today’s rapidly evolving operational landscape, Australian organisations are increasingly aligning their strategic posture with the emerging consensus that psychosocial risk is, in fact, a WHS issue.
A bold stance, only 20 years behind schedule.
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Respect as a Social Obligation, Not Just a Workplace Duty
Most of you will have been able to determine some of my values from the thousands of articles I have written here, but sometimes it is worth stopping, reviewing and clarifying. I met a friend in Zurich of a different political leaning from mine last week who, in a simple way, confirmed some of my thoughts.
He said that we need to respect each other. This is not difficult, but it can create enormous conflict and anxiety, especially as we continue to learn how traditional categorisations and approaches are no longer valid and may never have been.
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Workplace Suicides Becoming Australia’s Next Regulatory Flashpoint
You should have heard by now that Safe Work Australia (SWA) has come through with guidance on having work-related suicides included in each jurisdiction’s occupational health and safety (OHS) legislation as incidents that will require notification to the local OHS regulator. If you haven’t, get a new OHS or Human Resources (HR) adviser because the future will be a bumpy, uncomfortable and challenging ride.
Warning: this article discusses suicide.
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Working Hot and Thinking Smart
In 2021, Safe Work Australia released a model Code of Practice (CoP) for Working in Extreme Heat. The latest iteration of that code was released by the Australian Capital Territory on November 7, 2025. It is greatly expanded and much clearer on the prevention and management of exposures. When companies are claiming “best practice” safety, this CoP is particularly interesting.
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What changes does Leadership Require
In the landscape of occupational health and safety (OHS), executive leadership is often framed through the lens of compliance. However, as I and others have long argued, the law is the minimum; leadership must aim higher. Across hundreds of SafetyAtWorkBlog articles, a consistent theme emerges – safety leadership must evolve from bureaucratic oversight to moral accountability.
Continue reading “What changes does Leadership Require”