Category: psychosocial

Authentic selves, culture and racism

Culture has perhaps become the dominant theme in modern occupational health and safety (OHS). Possibly more dominant than Leadership. Culture remains an amorphous concept that is an inclusive adjective but also unhelpful.

Several recent events started making connections in my OHS brain that I am still working through:

  • Online racist statements by two Australian nurses
  • A Harvard Business Review Special Issue called “The Secrets of Great Culture” and
  • An article by Professor Lena Wang and others on the separation of work and life.
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The most recent guidance on office safety, including psych safety and working from home

In December 2024, WorkSafe Victoria released “Office Health and Safety – A Guide for Employers“. Sadly, it seems to have (half) dumped the Officewise brand. If WorkSafe had kept it, the guide would have been part of an illustrious history stretching to the last century when the first edition was published in 1995. The new guide has some interesting advice on occupational health and safety (OHS) issues related to working from home, but workplace mental health seems more prominent than in earlier editions.

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OHS and the diversity, equity and inclusivity backlash

The Australian Financial Review has looked at the local Australian context of the United States opposition to continuing workplace initiatives on diversity, equity and inclusivity (DEI), The AFR contacted some Australian technology companies for their leaders’ thoughts as overseas the DEI opposition seems loudest in tech companies.  The media attention overseas has also come from the activities of some right-wing anti-woke activists. The opposition seems to deny or ignore some of the evidence for DEI contributing to company profitability, cultural strength and occupational health and safety (OHS).

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Workplace factors are missing from “The Science of Stress”

I am sure someone much wiser than me has produced this aphorism: “One can learn from what is said, but often learn more from what is not.” If not, I will claim it. I thought of this while reading the National Geographic special edition (August 2024) magazine on “The Science of Stress.” I looked for the editor’s thoughts on the origin of work-related stress and prevention methods. They were largely missing.

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Seeing OHS law as a social law could change how OHS is seen and its future

Occupational health and safety has traditionally been considered under the category of industrial, or industrial relations, but largely this is due to the major advocates of OHS being the trade union movement. So OHS seems to fit with workers’ rights under the issues of wages and conditions, but really OHS is a social law.

According to one definition social law is:

“…any law, rule or regulation (including international treaty obligations) applicable in any jurisdiction concerning 
– labour, 
– social security, 
– the regulation of industrial relations (between government, employers and employees),
– the protection of occupational, as well as public, health and safety, 
– the regulation of public participation, 
– the protection and regulation of ownership of land rights (both formal and traditional), immovable goods and intellectual and cultural property rights, 
– the protection and empowerment of indigenous peoples or ethnic groups, 
– the protection, restoration and promotion of cultural heritage, and 
– all other laws, rules and regulations providing for the protection of employees and citizens.”

OHS meets several elements of this definition.

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This 2025 forecast offers mixed messaging

Risk and governance software company Navex published a forecast for 2025 which has some occupational health and safety (OHS) relevance.  It wrote “Rising temperatures in the workplace: Addressing civility concerns” which said

“Workplaces increasingly mirror the polarization we see in the world, with tensions surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives, and political differences bubbling to the surface in workplace discord. Ideally, the workplace should be a collaborative environment, but now is a minefield of potential heated disagreements, making workplace civility a top priority for organizations.”

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Disciplinary overlaps may help with worker engagement

There is a considerable overlap between organisational psychology, Human Resources and occupational health and safety (OHS), even though each has developed its own culture and language. People are just starting to acknowledge the overlap and trying to increase it.

One example of that overlap was on display in an interview with prominent podcaster Mel Robbins, who admitted that:

“The hardest thing about what I do is that oftentimes the advice and the tools sound dumb or repetitive…”

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