politics – Page 12 – SafetyAtWorkBlog

OHS lawyer says to trust your gut

Occupational health and safety (OHS) seminars can be a bit hit-and-miss. Sometimes they seem to be a front for promoting a new management program, but every so often, the information offered is perceptive and rewarding. Herbert Smith Freehills partner Steve Bell has been consistently rewarding over many years. No quoting Section 321 of an OHS Act or PowerPoint slide of obscure and semi-important court cases here. His latest seminar appearance covered

Due Diligence,
Industrial Manslaughter,
Psychosocial Risk Assessments
OHS Harmonisation.

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WorkSafe Victoria’s Director of Investigations says “Culture is nirvana”

Every so often, the spokespeople for occupational health and safety (OHS) regulators spread the public speaking load by having divisional heads speak at health and safety events. This week WorkSafe Victoria’s Director of Investigations, Peter Collins (pictured below), spoke at a breakfast seminar for the Australian Institute of Health and Safety, hosted by Herbert Smith Freehills. His presentation seemed like a prepared generic presentation which was okay but uninspiring. Given the nature of the investigations and prosecutions job, it should not have been a surprise that Collins was restricted on many of the topics he could speak of.

These AIHS seminars have been running annually for around 15 years and the Institute for decades, so there are some in the audience with long memories. Collins mentioned the persistent workplace hazards, such as manual handling and falls from heights, and

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The US take on heat and climate change

Coincidentally, as Europe burns and a little blog in Australia writes about the occupational context of excessive heat, a new book called Heat – Life and Death on a scorched planet was in the bookstores. Jeff Goodell, like so many North American authors, writes for his local readers even though his publishers sell books globally.

However, he does address the occupational health and safety (OHS) impacts of heat and offers some adaptations.

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Advice for the 23rd World Congress on Safety and Health at Work

I will be attending the 23rd World Congress on Safety and Health at Work in Sydney in November 2023. After a previous attendance at the Singapore conference a few years ago, I have high hopes but also some reservations.

The Congress is a major opportunity to open our minds. We Australians may think we are leading in some areas of occupational health and safety (OHS), but other than nominated speakers, we may need to be silent about our success until after we have listened and learned about the OHS experience of others. Some delegates will have an inflated sense of importance (more than ours), but most have come to learn, and it’s these delegates on whom we should focus.

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Job redesign should be a measure of business leadership

A consistent, manageable workload balanced by official leave and hours allowing social reconnection and mental recharge is ideal. It is the structure on which Industrial Relations (IR) and occupational health and safety (OHS) are based. Many people struggle to achieve this ideal even when it is prescribed by workplace laws. Many jobs simply ignore this prescription. In The Age newspaper on July 15 2023, journalist Jane Cadzow wrote about one of these jobs, the “Political Chief of Staff”. The inherent harm of the job was noted in the headline:

“‘They’re driving me insane’: The 24/7 life of a political chief of staff”

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Industrial Manslaughter comes to South Australia…. finally

South Australia is the latest Australian jurisdiction to introduce Industrial Manslaughter penalties. The magnitude of the potential penalties is reasonable, given that they come from an employer’s reckless conduct that leads to a fatality. However, many of the deterrent and preventive impacts expected by politicians and advocates have not been proven.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has an excellent article on the South Australian action.

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Calling something an accident hides the truth

Jessie Singer published her book called “There Are No Accidents” last year. It is a pivotal book about safety and our understanding of the social and legal impacts of calling tragic events “accidents”. On June 13 2023, Singer spoke on Carnegie Council’s From Another Angle podcast about her book and the consequences of its publication.

“Accident” is less used in modern media descriptions of incidents involving serious injuries and fatalities than in the past. The term implies an unavoidable consequence or undeterminable cause of a tragic event. The traditional use absolves anyone of responsibility or accountability and, consequently, stymies the deep analysis of causes required if such incidents are to be prevented in the future. The term is the antithesis of occupational health and safety (OHS) approaches which should always start from the aim of harm prevention.

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