Category: psychiatric

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”

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”

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”

Legal changes for Victoria’s workers’ compensation laws

As workers’ compensation keeps bubbling away as a political issues in South Australia ahead of this weekend’s State election, other Australian States are not sitting still on workers’ compensation.

Amendments to Victoria’s workers’ compensation system have passed through Parliament on 11 March 2010 enacting most of the findings of the 2007 Hanks inquiry.  The laws will be gradually introduced but with most effective from 5 April 2010.

The best summary of the amended laws is on the Victorian WorkCover website. Continue reading “Legal changes for Victoria’s workers’ compensation laws”

Workplace bullying and restorative justice – how to help the families left behind

A feature article on workplace bullying in The Age newspaper on 10 March 2010 has the additional or secondary benefit of again raising the relevance of “restorative justice” to the issue of occupational safety and health.

The main element of the article is the McGregor family who had two children commit suicide over related issues.  The son, Stuart McGregor,  described as being chronically depressed, was being bullied at work.  He confided in his sister, Angela McGregor, over the issues.  Angela had been bullied at school.  Alannah killed herself.  A month later, Stuart followed.

WorkSafe investigated the bullying at Stuart’s place of work, substantiated Stuart’s claims are is determining what further action to take.  The newspaper reports that there may be insufficient evidence to pursue the case through the Courts.

What the reporter, Helen Westerman, does is to relate the grief and hurt of the parents to the potential benefits of the application of “restorative justice” in workplace incidents.   Continue reading “Workplace bullying and restorative justice – how to help the families left behind”

When looking to understand psychosocial issues, ask your grandparents

In February 2010, the New York Times ran an article about depression by Jonah Lehrer.  The same article appeared in some of Australia’s weekend newspapers in early March.  Lehrer looks at the issue of depression and considers whether there is a potential upside to the disorder by looking back as far as Charles Darwin for expressions of depression.  He makes a challenging statement:

“…that depression has a secret purpose and our medical interventions are making a bad situation even worse.  Like a fever that helps the immune system fight off infection — increased body temperature sends white blood cells into overdrive — depression might be an unpleasant yet adaptive response to affliction.”

Lehrer goes on to make a case for depression being a possible source of creativity.

He refers extensively to the evolutionary psychology research of Andy Thomson and Paul Andrews who acknowledge that

“… depression is a vast continuum, a catch-all term for a spectrum of symptoms.”

Perhaps, particularly in the relatively recent consideration of depression in workplaces, we are being too narrow and too specific.  Perhaps the case for workplace depression being made by some of the “depression sellers” is too targeted and we need to remind ourselves of the sociology of work, a perspective that seems to have gone out of fashion. Continue reading “When looking to understand psychosocial issues, ask your grandparents”

Non-mainstream media acknowledges the realities of workplace fatalities

Bernard Keane writing in online newsletter, Crikey, is one of the few who has reported on the Australian Government’s insulation scheme debacle and kept the fact of worker deaths as more than just a moral sideline to the issue.

On 3 March 2010, Keane wrote a very good article which draws on the political and media attitudes to worker deaths over the last decade in Australia.  He highlights the political expediency of selective reporting and commentary on safety issues.  Many of the comments and assertions made at the Cole Royal Commission are still reiterated today and form the basis of some political party policies.

Given the recent media coverage on workplace bullying, Keane’s reminder on the deaths and suicides in the Australian Defence Forces and the political reticence to do anything on the matter, is timely.

It is only six weeks before the International Workers’ Memorial day,  (28 April 2010).  The 2010 commemoration is likely to be one of the most political events since it began almost two decades ago.

Some of the statistics that fueled the outrage against then-Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, are seriously questioned in this blog article at Pollytics.com.

Kevin Jones

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