The Australian Financial Review on 24 March 2010 includes an article (only available through subscription or hard copy purchase) that states that the “tangle of state laws hampers compliance” by business on the issue of workplace bullying. Harvard Business Review reports on how to cut through the distractions and attend to a root cause of workplace bullying. Continue reading “Workplace bullying needs harmony and good managers”
Category: OHS
OHS awards consider work/life balance but not vice versa
On 15 March 2010, the Australian Government congratulated the winners of, and participants in, the 2009–10 National Work–Life Balance Awards.
According to a media release from the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations:
“The Awards…. recognise family friendly practices like flexible working hours, options for working from home, paid parental leave, job sharing, onsite carer’s facilities and study assistance.”
Teleworking and flexible working hours are both directly relevant to occupational health safety but also through the OHS elements of work/life balance. But the National Work-Life Balance Awards Team told SafetyAtWorkBlog that
“No direct OHS performance indicators were included in the judging criteria for the 2009-10 National Work-LIfe Balance Awards.” Continue reading “OHS awards consider work/life balance but not vice versa”
Does being fat equate to being unsafe at work?
There are several initiatives throughout the world under the banner of workplace health that have little relation to work. They are public health initiatives administered through the workplace with, often, a cursory reference to the health benefits also having a productivity benefit.
So is a fat worker less safe than a thin worker? Such a general question cannot be answered but it illustrates an assumption that is underpinning many of the workplace health initiatives. There is little doubt that workers with chronic health conditions take more leave but, in most circumstances, this leave is already accounted for in the business plan.
Sick leave is estimated at a certain level for all workers across a workplace and, sometimes, a nation. There is an entitlement for a certain amount of sick leave for all workers, fat and thin, “healthy” or “unhealthy”. It certainly does not mean that the entitlement will be taken every year but the capacity is there and businesses accommodate this in their planning and costs.
Remove this generic entitlement so that only working hours remain. Is a fat worker less productive than a thin worker? Is a worker without any ailments more productive than a person with a chronic ailment? Is a smoker more productive than a non-smoker or a diabetic or a paraplegic? Continue reading “Does being fat equate to being unsafe at work?”
Snopes can cut through the OHS bull
Chain letters were bad enough in the old days when both stamps and envelopes were licked but the internet has resurrected a lot of myths simply because it costs next to nothing to distribute the crap. Urban myths have evolved into internet outrage and, sadly, even OHS professionals forward on this rubbish. Continue reading “Snopes can cut through the OHS bull”
Australian MP mentions workplace bullying but is short on practical controls
On 18 March 2010, the last sitting day of that session of Australia’s Parliament, Labor Member of Parliament , Bill Shorten, spoke about workplace bullying and the OHS prosecutions that stemmed from the bullying and suicide of Brodie Panlock. Some of his short speech rehashed details of the workplace bullying prosecutions but, according to the draft of Hansard (page 93), Shorten made some useful remarks:
“I rise to speak on the issue of workplace bullying. We would not think it was acceptable for people to come to work and be exposed to asbestos or toxic chemicals. We should not think, therefore, that it is appropriate for them to be exposed to the toxic behaviour that is sustained and malicious bullying. I believe that this kind of bullying is something which can be eradicated. We have changed attitudes on smoking in the workplace and on sexual harassment; there is no reason why we cannot eliminate forever bullying in the workplace.
Bullying is an absence of kindness and Continue reading “Australian MP mentions workplace bullying but is short on practical controls”
Prominent OHS lawyer to facilitate workers’ compensation reform discussions
SafetyAtWorkBlog has been able to confirm the rumour that Barry Sherriff, a prominent Australian OHS Lawyer who recently joined Norton Rose, has been contracted to facilitate a series of exclusive forums on the reform of Australia’s workers’ compensation system.
Sherriff was one of the triumvirate who investigated a model OHS law for the Australian Government and should fulfill his contracted role for Safe Work Australia (SWA) admirably. Continue reading “Prominent OHS lawyer to facilitate workers’ compensation reform discussions”
LTIFRs (sort of) gone from Australia Post
The Communications Division of the CEPU has been in negotiations with Australia Post for some time to establish a pathway to better industrial relations. On 18 March 2010 a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed between the two parties, committing both to progress.
Of direct OHS interest is the following paragraph in the media statement about the MOU:
“As a gesture of good faith the MOU contains commitments from all parties that will apply immediately:
- Australia Post will host a summit in April between senior executives including the Managing Director and senior CEPU representatives on the future challenges facing the business, the unions and their members; and
- The removal of Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate’s in bonus targets for managers.”
Whether OHS will be discussed at the summit is unknown but the removal of LTIFR is of significance to OHS professionals.
Continue reading “LTIFRs (sort of) gone from Australia Post”