Rory O’Neill was a member of a panel at the 23rd World Congress for Safety and Health at Work, ostensibly, about Safety in Design in high-risk industries. It is fair to say he was expansive, engaging and provocative. It was a rare opportunity to hear him speak in person. Below are some examples of his challenging and, in some ways, traditional approach to occupational health and safety (OHS).
Practicing my own advice of talking with people you don’t know at conferences, last night at post-conference drinks, I was told about love and protection.
This afternoon, the 23rd World Congress on Safety and Health at Work commences in Sydney. Already important information is being released, with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) being first out of the block, setting the broader occupational health and safety (OHS) context.
In a media release dated November 27 2023, the ILO says:
The working-from-home (WFH) debate continues in business newspapers with tension about what the employer and worker want. The Australian Financial Review (AFR) has its regular voices from business groups saying that it is damaging productivity for workers to be away from the offices as much as they are, but also reporting the lived experience of working from home with workers identifying positive social and familial benefits.
On November 25, 2023, the newspaper confirmed that Amazon Australia is using career progression as a nudge for workers to come to the offices more frequently.
The push for workers to return to offices for the majority of their working hours or full-time continues but is one step forward and two back, or vice versa. This is partly due to mixed mainstream and online media messages from conflicting and confusing sources. This is not helpful when one is trying to make a decision on the best available evidence.
A recent example was in the Australian Financial Review (AFR) on November 22, 2023 (paywalled). A commercial real estate services provider CBRE, has released quarterly figures that say workplaces in Melbourne are “only a little over half-occupied on average”. According to Tom Broderick of CBRE:
In November 2023, Australia’s National Heavy Vehicle Regulator released a “case learning” about a successful prosecution and sentence that the NHVR described as
“One of the most serious examples of a breach under the HVNL [Heavy Vehicle National Laws]”
The seriousness of the breach is perhaps reflected in the fine of A$2.3 million.
It is a significant case and a prosecution with lessons for managers and employers well outside the transport sector. In fact, the NHVR’s “Key takeaways for executives” could form the basis of a solid and productive business management system.
The Victorian Parliament has been debating legislation the government claims is essential to fix a “broken” workers’ compensation system. There are a lot of elements to what is broken – premium increases, political access to WorkSafe finances, political topping up of WorkSafe finances, high numbers and costs for workplace mental health compensation claims and more. What is largely missing is a discussion on the prevention of mental health injuries at work.
