Category: media

Curious workers’ compensation claim

Recently, it was revealed that a senior leader of the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), John Setka, has lodged a workers’ compensation claim alleging post-traumatic stress disorder related to his work. Setka (pictured above second from the left) is a controversial trade union and political figure, especially in Victoria, and anyone can lodge a worker’s compensation claim. However, the media reporting identifies some curious factors to this claim.

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Subscribe Help
Already a member? Log in here

The reporting of farm deaths could be improved

Recently, Lisa Ronson died in a vehicle incident on her Victorian farm. Much has already been written about her family’s loss, Lisa’s life and the impact on the community. This article is not about her; it is about how her death has been presented in the media over the last few days and the words used for the means of her death.

For many, her death was brought to our attention by a front-page article in the Herald-Sun newspaper on November 25, 2024 (image below). As an advocate for occupational health and safety (OHS) with a strong interest in farm safety, I read the whole article, and others, looking for details of the incident to contextualise it in the history of farm deaths. The only details were mentioned in the second paragraph:

“….after Ms Ronson was killed in a tragic farm accident on Saturday night, her devastated family is mourning the loss of a cherished wife and mother.”

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Subscribe Help
Already a member? Log in here

“If you don’t sound the alarm, who will?” Matt Peacock and work health and safety

Prominent investigative journalist, Matt Peacock, has died from pancreative cancer. Few of us are lucky enough to save people’s lives, some of us change the world. Matt did both. He was never an occupational health and safety (OHS) specialist but his impact on the world of work, especially in Australia was profound and, probably, unmatched.

In 2019, I was helping the (then) Safety Institute of Australia with its conferences. I approached Matt to speak at the 2019 national conference dinner in Sydney, hoping he would be provocative. (Here is an article from that time) He shocked many in the audience when saying:

“..my message tonight is that if you were all doing your jobs properly, then I wouldn’t have had anything to report on in the first place.”

He did not let up on his challenging criticism that night. Below is the full transcript of his presentation, available for the first time.

Kevin Jones

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Subscribe Help
Already a member? Log in here

Plenty of what and how with a little bit of why

Psychosocial hazards are gaining attention online, but the pace of change remains sloth-like. Two recent online events provide good, basic occupational health and safety (OHS) and organisational psychology information and some insight into the slow pace.

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Subscribe Help
Already a member? Log in here

Significant workplace culture investigation but OHS missed again

Australia’s news media is reporting a shocking report about the workplace culture of parts of the Nine Entertainment organisation – bullying, sexual harassment, abuse of power – all the elements of organisational culture that can be found in any company if one scratches the surface. Scratching is one of the aims of the occupational health and safety (OHS) discipline – investigating the causes of harm at the source.

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Subscribe Help
Already a member? Log in here

Business values and OHS impacts

No one outside occupational health and safety (OHS) talks about OHS. Outside of scandals and disasters, OHS is a fringe consideration, especially in the media—social and mainstream. So, OHS needs to insert itself into mainstream conversations. The column by economics journalist Ross Gittins in The Age newspaper on September 23, 2024, says much about OHS without mentioning it.

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Subscribe Help
Already a member? Log in here

The first psychosocial hazards book

It has taken some time for an Australian to produce an affordable book on managing psychosocial hazards in the workplace. I have reservations about The Science of Happy Employees, self-published by Dr Brenda Jamnik. It is not the book I would write if I ever got off my arse to write one, but it seems to be the first that acknowledges the occupational health and safety (OHS) context of psychosocial hazards.

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Subscribe Help
Already a member? Log in here
© Workplace Safety Services P/L (ABN: 68091088621) and SafetyAtWorkBlog, 2008-2026. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Kevin Jones and SafetyAtWorkBlog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Concatenate Web Development
© Designed and developed by Concatenate Aust Pty Ltd