Category: risk

OHS news and content suggestions welcome

Recently, readers have been providing tip-offs to OHS issues that are not being covered by the traditional media.  SafetyAtWorkBlog has always inhabited this niche but is looking to expand its story source options.

I am encouraging readers to provide not only news tip-offs but to also suggest safety issues that could form the basis of a SafetyAtWorkBlog article.  For instance, do you know of an extraordinary safety person whose story requires a broader audience?  Is there a design fault with a safety product that the manufacturer is not attending to?  Is the application of a safety law having an unexpected effect at a workplace?

Tip-offs and suggestions can be anonymous but I reserve the right to reject any suggestions that I feel are not suitable for the SafetyAtWorkBlog.  The more specific and detailed your information for the article (contact details, photos, reference documents etc.), the higher the priority given.

But don’t forget that if you have the writing bug, you are welcome to send through articles for consideration.

Kevin Jones

State Coroner speaks at Workers’ Memorial

Victoria, Australia, had a State Coroner who trailblazed on the issue of workplace safety for well over a decade.  Graeme Johnstone saw the coroner’s role as improving the quality of life of the community by examining its failures.  Victoria’s current coroner, Jennifer Coate, seems to be continuing Johnstone’s work and addressed the crowd at Melbourne’s workers memorial on 28 April 2011.

Coroner Coate’s speech is unlikely to be publicly released but SafetyAtWorkBlog has been informed that the speech contained the following points

  • it is important to remember and honour those workers who have died at work so that potential deaths can be prevented;
  • since 2000 the Coroners’ Court has made over 100 recommendations or comments on industrial deaths and recent laws require the state government to respond to these recommendations;
  • the crowd at the Trades Hall memorial cairn were asked to assist in the uptake of the prevention recommendations from the Coroners’ Court;
  • we should not forget the impact that workplace deaths can have on those who knew and loved the victims, and those who worked with them.

That a coroner was willing to attend and speak at such an event is a major compliment to the trade union organisers and a good insight in Judge Coate’s personality and philosophy.

Kevin Jones

Memorial forest for people killed and injured at work

Rosemary McKenzie-Ferguson, a frequent commentator at SafetyAtWorkBlog and prominent advocate on behalf of injured workers, led the Workers’ Memorial Day walk in Adelaide, South Australia today.  She was instrumental in the establishment of a memorial garden in the state capital and explains the reasons for the garden and the significance of the garden in the video below.

WorkCoverSA CEO faces hard tasks as new report damns WorkCover’s performance

Late April 2011 is becoming a period of turmoil in the South Australia’s WorkCover Corporation, on top of the government’s political turmoil from the sudden resignation of the Industrial Relations Minister, Bernard Finnigan, and a minister being charged with child pornography offences.  According to inDaily on 21 April 2011, WorkCover’s Deputy CEO, Jeff Matthews, and Chief Financial Officer, Ian Rhodes, left the organisation suddenly.  CEO Rob Thomson (ex-Workcover New South Wales) says that the positions were axed as part of a restructure.

On 27 April 2011, the most recent review into WorkCover’s operations was released.  The March 2011 report finds that the state’s workers compensation scheme

“…shows little evidence of improved return to work performance, in spite of very heavy referrals to and cost of vocational rehabilitation compared to comparable scheme.” Continue reading “WorkCoverSA CEO faces hard tasks as new report damns WorkCover’s performance”

ILO provides thoughtful information for Workers’ Memorial Day

Workers’ Memorial Day, or the World Day for Safety and Health At Work, gains considerable attention at local levels.  In particular, Australia and Canada have a large number of commemorative events.  However, the activities of the International Labor Organization (ILO) should not be ignored and the activities for 2011 are of particular note.

The Deputy General of the ILO, Juan Somavia, reminds us that in 2001 the ILO published its Guidelines on Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems, a document that has had a major influence on those countries that do not have the resources necessary to develop their own OHS regulatory support services.

Ten years after the release of that document the ILO has released a reflective report entitled “OSH Management System: A tool for continual improvement”. This report reads as a little simple for those who focus on occupational health and safety management systems (OHSMS) but every so often even the most specialised of professionals needs to be reminded of the basic building blocks of that profession.  This is particularly so in countries like Australia, where the OHS profession is distracted by legal harmonisation, or England, where budget cuts and economic challenges are focussing business attention away from safety management.

The report reminds in plain English that

“The OSHMS approach ensures that:

I wish for an OHS time machine

Certain memories

I cannot escape certain OHS memories.   They are the ones that inform many of the decisions I make in matters of health and safety.   Rightly or wrongly they feed my aspirations, my efforts, frustrations and my anger at what I see too often in many workplaces.   What I do and what I know feeds on these memories.

I recently inspected a workplace that uses huge amounts of chemicals.  The place was covered with health and safety signs and strongly smelled of a range of chemicals.   But overall it was clean, neat and half way respectful of workers’ health.   I could see workers here and there watching me walk around with the union delegate and H&S representative, and they knew that there would be a lunchtime mass meeting for me to say my piece.   But I couldn’t get Mr White out of my mind.  This was one of my persistent memories.   My personal OHS canaries warning me not to forget things.

I met him at the end of an extended OHS inspection I conducted at his workplace.   The manager on the day was decent and very helpful, he facilitated a great deal.  This factory used large amounts of a particular chemical, and has been for more than 30 years, his entire working life was spent in this factory working with this chemical.

He introduced himself unusually as ‘Mr White’, stuttered, smiled hesitantly and said, ‘Mick’, almost as if his first name was unimportant, just an afterthought.  He clutched a stack of papers tightly to his chest and waited for a gap in the conversation so he could say his bit.   Continue reading “I wish for an OHS time machine”

Industry action confuses quad bike sellers

Last week, Honda quad bike dealers were supplied with the safety code provided by the Federated Chamber of Automotive Industries. This code outlines research that shows some roll over protection (ROPS) devices may increase the risk of injury.  A major ROPS identified in recent reports is the QuadBar, a device that may be “set to become an industry standard” for quad bike safety according to one media report.

Last week, SafetyAtWorkBlog heard that some Honda quad bike dealers, who also stock the QuadBar, feared that the distribution of the FCAI Industry paper was an indication that the continued stocking of the QuadBar may threaten the retention of their Honda dealership. Continue reading “Industry action confuses quad bike sellers”

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