The politics of industrial relations will be a crucial element of Australia’s Federal election due later this year. The Federal Government has already used workplace safety as a reason for the reintroduction of the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC). The trade union movement’s latest response is a campaign launched on April 10, 2016 accompanied by an online video. Continue reading “Trade unions temper language on ABCC safety role”
Category: politics
What does the Prime Minister’s criticism of banking culture mean for OHS?
Some of Australia’s mainstream media reported on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull‘s admonishment of the banking sector on April 6 2016. He accused them of having an unhealthy culture, reflecting a general and growing public dissatisfaction with large financial institutions, insurance companies and other corporations.
Given that the dominant perspective on occupational health and safety (OHS), at the moment, is the importance of an organisational culture that values workplace safety, it is worth looking at Prime Minister Turnbull’s words and those of prominent executives and financial regulators recently reported in the mainstream press.
Continue reading “What does the Prime Minister’s criticism of banking culture mean for OHS?”
A new option for avoiding OHS obligations
A major motivation for occupational health and safety (OHS) improvements in many businesses is the potential damage to a company’s reputation if someone is injured or killed from the company’s operations. Usually such an event would result in a prosecution by an OHS regulator but prosecution rates are variable and there are an increasing range of options and mechanisms, such as enforceable undertakings, available to companies in order to avoid a prosecution or financial penalty.
A new prosecution option has recently gained the attention of the Australian Government and one with which OHS professionals should become familiar as it could spread into their field of operations.
Login or subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Workplace role on addressing and preventing family violence
Login or subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Australia’s ABCC argument is not about safety
Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is on a pathway to an election. On March 21 2016, the Prime Minister wrote to the Governor-General to continue a convoluted process sparked by the Senate’s refusal to pass laws that will allow the reintroduction of the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC). One of the justifications for the need to pass the laws is to improve workplace safety, as in the excerpt below for the Prime Minsiter’s letter. This position is unjustified.
Continue reading “Australia’s ABCC argument is not about safety”
Victoria increases OHS penalty three-fold
Victoria’s occupational health and safety (OHS) strategy has been in a bit of a mess since the previous (conservative) government opted out of the harmonised work health and safety law process and brands were changed and changed again. It lost its claim to be leading Australian in OHS, or needed to explain its position, where before most people accepted their leadership position.
The current Victorian (Labor) government seems to be trying to make up some of that ground by increasing financial penalties, as reported by OHSAlert last week. Continue reading “Victoria increases OHS penalty three-fold”
WorkSafe and politicians continue to confuse
On March 4, 2016 WorkSafe Victoria released a media statement with the headline:
“WorkSafe announces new safety record in half-year results”
The headline was reinforced (or the other way round) in the body of the statement with
“The rate of injuries in Victorian workplaces has reached a new record low, according to the half-yearly results released yesterday by WorkSafe Victoria.”
But then states that
“As of 31 December 2015 there were 7 claims per million hours worked (MHW) in Victorian workplaces, compared to 7.34 claims recorded at the end of 2014/15 – a fall of 4.6 per cent.”
So what is it – a record low number of injuries or a record low number of workers’ compensation claims?
Login or subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.