Every book by Ellen Pinkos Cobb deserves close attention, as her perspective and approach to examining sexual harassment and psychosocial hazards in the workplace are unique and valuable. Her new book, “The Global Evolution of Bullying, Harassment, and Discrimination Laws” is a great addition to one’s library.
Yesterday I posed the following questions for Victoria’s upcoming Parliamentary Committee inquiry into proposed work-from-home (WFH) laws.
Below I offer some answers.
For the last few years, McDonald’s in the United Kingdom has been embroiled in scandals involving the harassment and sexual harassment of staff by other staff members. As McDonald’s is an international company with similar operational systems of work, how would the Australian arm of the company react to a similar situation?
Whenever Mariana Mazzucato publishes a new book, she appears in the press everywhere as part of book tours and promotions. Her latest book, The Common Good Economy, is likely to be as influential on government and international policymakers as her other books have been. Australia’s Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, pays close attention to her perspectives. These perspectives relate to the management of occupational health and safety (OHS) because they present a different or tweaked sense of corporate morality, under which workers should be safe and healthy.
This article is not a review of the Common Good Economy book, although it is very good. Instead, I compare Mazzucato’s approach on work to Professor Michael Quinlan‘s take on precarity.
Author Charles Dickens is often cited for his description of and opposition to the working conditions in his time – child labour, executive (im)morality, excessive workload, and poor working conditions. However, the image that has always stayed with me is the Circumlocution Office described in Little Dorrit.
Many articles about work-related burnout miss the occupational health and safety (OHS) point. On March 21, 2026, The Age published an article (paywalled) ostensibly about the benefits of disconnecting from phones and social media to combat burnout, improve mental health, and foster more meaningful, in-person connections. But the case it uses to make its point is also a case about the prevention of psychological harm at work.
Continue reading “Unsafe Work is Almost Always Behind Burnout”Recently, I bemoaned the lack of evidence on the occupational health and safety (OHS) benefits of a four-day work week. A reader pointed me to the research of sociologist Wen Fan. The most accessible way to her research is through an episode of the “Psych Health and Safety Podcast” from September 2025.
