In support of Australia’s Safe Work Month, I have recorded a 12-minute opinion piece on how Australian politics since 2010 has affected the perception and development of occupational health and safety, based on past SafetyAtWorkBlog articles.
It is an interesting opportunity to reflect on the decisions and actions of influential individuals like Julia Gillard, Kristina Keneally, Jeff Lawrence, and David Gregory.
Prominent occupational health and safety (OHS) lawyers Dale McQualter and Catherine Dunlop have just concluded the first of two online seminars about Victoria’s new psychological/psychosocial regulations and compliance code. Many employers will have a lot of work to do to comply, but the overall sense was one of reassurance.
Work-related suicide is more insidious in some ways than non-work suicide, as it is institutionally stigmatised to the extent that its reality has been denied. There is an additional level of complexity when an employer is in control of the work, and a strong economic ideology often denies the influence of work factors. The tide is turning, but organisational factors are not receiving the prominence they deserve, and the change remains slow.
New Australian research is playing a crucial role in accelerating this change.
Note: This article discusses issues related to suicide.
[Guest post by Eric Windholz]
Last week I again had the pleasure to contribute to the Headfirst: A Concussion Podcast, this time talking about recent developments concerning the compensation of athletes (and in particular, AFL (Australian Football League) players) suffering concussion. The key takeaway – the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Continue reading “Australian Football Needs Better Workers Compensation”The Victorian Government plans to introduce legislation regarding psychosocial hazards, similar to that of all other Australian jurisdictions, by the end of 2025. But what workplace changes are expected when this new set of occupational health and safety regulations is enacted? Other States’ laws may provide clues.
The Australian Institute of Health and Safety (AIHS) state branches conduct local single-day symposia annually. These networking and professional development sessions are important opportunities for practitioners of occupational health and safety (OHS) to connect and learn.
The good presenters were very good at the Victorian Branch symposium in September.
Earlier this week, I was a panellist at an occupational health and safety symposium organised by the Victorian Branch of the Australian Institute of Health and Safety. We were asked to be challenging and provocative in our perspectives on the evolution of OHS and OHS law in Victoria since the start of the century.
