Category: interview

Systems Thinking Remains the Blind Spot in Australia’s Leadership Conversation

Australian employers keep saying they’re improving how they manage mental health at work, yet the basic problem remains: HR and OHS still operate in silos. You can see it in every psychological injury case where HR handles the person, and OHS handles the paperwork, but no one fixes the work. A recent episode of The Caring CEO featuring a conversation between Graeme Cowan and Kat Page showed how close we are to integrating people management and work design — and how far we still have to go.

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Trade Unions, Culture, OHS and Fishing

One of the most important resources for occupational health and safety (OHS) advocates worldwide is the HESAMag, produced by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI). There are several important articles in the current issue, including an interview with Giulio Romani, the Confederal Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation.

One of his areas of concern is the challenges faced in OHS advocacy, an issue that may be better resolved with some out-of-the-box creative thinking. He said:

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The Work‑From‑Home Debate Needs Less Theatre and More OHS

A recent radio forum on working from home reinforced the political motivation behind promoting it as a legal right and also highlighted the knowledge gaps we have about it. Occupational health and safety (OHS) was mentioned in the discussion, but its core significance was again downplayed.

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The American Approach to Psychological Safety

Harvard Business Review (HBR) is an active publisher of articles on business management. In 2024, it released a collection of essays on psychological safety as part of its Emotional Intelligence series. HBR’s psychological safety advice is written for a U.S. corporate audience. It largely ignores the legislative duties that shape psychosocial risk management in Australia, so the advice should be considered with great caution.

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NZ OHS reform is all sticks and carrots of questionable quality

Recently, New Zealand’s Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety, Brooke Van Velden, was interviewed for almost half an hour by Jack Tame on her government’s proposed changes to occupational health and safety (OHS) laws. The interview was informative and entertaining, as it explained some aspects of the OHS changes, but also showcased a Minister who was uncomfortable with being questioned.

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I David Daniels’ US perspective on psychosocial risks at work

Many conference delegates spoke highly of international speaker I David Daniels at the recent Psych Health and Safety conference. Daniels has a long occupational health and safety (OHS) career and hosts the United States version of the Psych Health and Safety podcast. His OHS perspectives, including his discussions about race, were significant.

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Occupational Hygienist – Rene LeBlanc

It has been several months since the 23rd World Congress for Health and Safety was held in Sydney, pictured above. A major benefit of attending occupational health and safety (OHS) conferences is meeting people, old and new. I was honoured to meet Rene LeBlanc, an occupational hygienist from Canada. We had dinner on a very rainy and stormy Sydney night, and Rene agreed to an interview. Below is an edited version of part of that conversation (it was a long dinner). Rene was wide-ranging on his OHS topics.

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