research – Page 154 – SafetyAtWorkBlog

Do OHS workshops work?

Years ago I was invited to speak at a safety conference and to conduct a workshop. I cocked up the workshop and realised that my conference presentation would need considerable reworking. This experience made me shy of speaking engagements for a while but has provided me with a lasting suspicion on conference workshops.

At several conferences recently what was promoted as a presentation by a subject matter expert turned into a workshop where the presenter seeks the wisdom of the audience, the inverse of what should have occurred. Some enjoy the participation of others in this format but I find better networking and brainstorming occurs in a less formal setting. My advice is if you enter an auditorium and there is butcher’s paper anywhere in the room, leave.

However, practical workshops linked to safety conferences seem to be gaining in popularity, perhaps because they are easy to administer and promise little more than a “learning experience” where learning is often optional. Continue reading “Do OHS workshops work?”

New workplace bullying reference group established

Queensland’s Education and Industrial Relations Minister, Cameron Dick, has always been a strong critic of school bullying but now he has focussed on workplace bullying.

According to Minister Dick’s media release on 10 July 2011 the government is setting up a special reference group to examine workplace bullying. A spokesperson for the minister told SafetyAtWorkBlog that the membership of the reference group is unlikely to be finalised.

The Minister is quoted as saying.

“Queensland currently has existing laws to address workplace bullying and protect workers from harassment and the time is right to review these laws….I am establishing a workplace bullying reference group to look into the incidence of bullying and strategies to prevent bullying in Queensland workplaces.

The reference group will consist of senior worker and employer representatives, as well as legal and academic experts. Continue reading “New workplace bullying reference group established”

Directors Sentiment Index mentions OHS but……

The survey results of the inaugural Directors Sentiment Index have been around for several months but recent breakfasts discussing the findings have generated renewed media interest.

The survey provides a useful profile of how directors see their role and lists forecasts of trends but in none of the recent media reports does workplace health and safety receive attention although it is mentioned in the survey results.

The survey, conducted for the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD), lists occupational health and safety (OHS) as one of the components of what is described as Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues (page 64).

(Curiously “Work Health & Safety” continues to be abbreviated to OH&S showing the persistence of OHS).

The chart shows that 54% of respondents believe that the importance of OHS issues will increase a little. This can be interpreted in many ways – directors do not know what they are talking about, the OHS profession has a bloated sense of its own importance, a survey over time may provide a better reflection of perception or that the work of Safe Work Australia on OHS and corporate governance is not gaining traction on the agendas at board meetings. Continue reading “Directors Sentiment Index mentions OHS but……”

Safety Alert on quad bikes

The New South Wales Department of Industry and Investment has released a formal Health and Safety Alert of quad bikes. As it is not yet available online, it is included below.

Kevin Jones

Footnote: Quad bike safety will be given a rest for a little while unless there is a significant issue. KJ

Canada begins developing a National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace

Mental health is attracting a huge amount of attention in western countries but much of this has a public health focus. Workplace mental health is not getting enough attention even though, correctly applied, this collective term could include the occupational hazards of stress, bullying, depression and suicide.

Canada has leapt ahead of most countries by committing to develop a National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace. According to a backgrounder on the initiative, the Standard

“…will be a stand‐alone voluntary standard. It will provide a methodology that will lead to measureable improvements in psychological health and safety for Canadian employees in their workplaces.”

Significantly, the business case for the Standard is expected to result in

enhanced cost effectiveness,
improved risk management,
increased organizational recruitment and retention [and
increased] corporate social responsibility.

This Canadian initiative has considerable merit and may provide the (non-regulatory) glue that is needed to supply a business-friendly management structure for a range of workplace mental health issues that are being combatted in isolation from one another. Workplace depression is fighting for attention against bullying which is battling out of a subset of stress……… Continue reading “Canada begins developing a National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace”

Quad bike poster distracts from the evidence

Not only are quadbike manufacturers resisting the inevitable, they have gone on the attack with posters being distributed that criticise the installation of crush protection devices (CPD)s, safety devices increasingly being recommended by safety advocates, farm safety specialists and government departments in Australia.

According The Weekly Times on 16 June 2011, Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Polaris and Kawasaki and others are promoting a safety message through the poster (pictured right). This position was hinted at in Dr Yossi Berger’s comments on a previous blog posting.

The major rural newspaper reports a curious position that may indicate that criticism of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) may be misplaced.

“FCAI motorcycle manager Rhys Griffiths said it was the manufacturers’ decision to put the posters up, and “we had no part in printing it”.

The FCAI was “yet to go public with our message other than to have the industry position paper available”.” [links added]

There is no mention of this poster campaign on any of the manufacturers’ website mentioned above.

The FCAI may claim not to gone “public” on this poster campaign but the industry position paper is, at first glance, damning of the roll bar options available. However a close reading of the industry paper on rollover protection structures shows a large number of equivocations and conditional statements. There also seem to be blanket conclusions from some comparisons of dissimilar ROPS.

The debate continues and seems to be evolving into the public relations arena. This is very unfortunate as the evidence, the issue of the safety of riders of quadbikes in the workplace, can become clouded by spin. Up to this point the arguments have been about the research evidence. The poster is an unhelpful distraction.

Kevin Jones

Quad bike manufacturers resist the inevitable

Pressure is increasing on the manufacturers of quad bikes in Australia and from a variety of sources.

The Weekly Times newspaper continues, almost fortnightly, to report on the safety debate about the use and design of quad bikes. The 9 June edition has a double-page spread on the issue with many direct quotes from “players” in the debate. The fact that a national rural newspaper has devoted this level of column inches is indicative of the controversy. The Australian metropolitan dailies have not followed this lead but, as we have seen in previous blog posts, major New Zealand papers have covered the issues.

Some Australian government departments are applying the cautionary principle under legislative occupational health and safety (OHS) obligation and have restricted the use of quad bikes pending risk assessments. SafetyAtWorkBlog has heard that one department, New South Wales’ National Parks & Wildlife Service, has passed through the assessment phase and will be fitting Crush Protection Devices (CPDs) to their quad bikes by the end of August 2011.

A source close to the debate has told SafetyAtWorkBlog that

There is an increased likelihood for coroners’ inquests in a number of states;
The quad bike industry has begun formally misrepresenting the value of CPDs in posters, of which several have been provided to quad bike distributors; and
The industry continue to assert that research shows CPDs cause more harm than good but provide no evidence of this. Continue reading “Quad bike manufacturers resist the inevitable”

Category: research

Do OHS workshops work?

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New workplace bullying reference group established

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Directors Sentiment Index mentions OHS but……

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Safety Alert on quad bikes

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Canada begins developing a National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace

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Quad bike poster distracts from the evidence

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Quad bike manufacturers resist the inevitable

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