Ernst Young’s latest safety discussion paper

Ernst Young (EY) Australia has released a discussion paper about its “Plus One” strategy for occupational health and safety (OHS) and safety culture change.  Perhaps the curious and significant issue raised in the document is the way it considers that the “zero harm” era is over.

The document urges people to “build on the lessons of zero harm”.  Some would say that the most important lesson is that “zero harm” is bullshit but EY is almost taking “zero harm” as a fixed point in time, or rather a point in thought, from which progress in a new direction is possible.  Continue reading “Ernst Young’s latest safety discussion paper”

Queensland plans for a safety culture for quad bikes

[Guest Post from Dave Robertson of Quadbar]

Cover of QLD Quad Bike Plan_2016-2019On March 3 2016, the Queensland government released its “Statewide Plan for Improving Quad Bike Safety”. The document covers a wide range of issues but risk controls like substitution and engineering only get small mention.

According to the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations,  Grace Grace, the government intends

“…to create a safety culture through education and awareness as the immediate first step toward improving safety outcomes for quad bike users and their passengers.”

It must be noted that the plan covers occupational and recreational use of quad bikes but it is also important that the Statewide Plan does not indicate how the success of the plan and the safety culture model will be assessed.

Continue reading “Queensland plans for a safety culture for quad bikes”

Health program impact on corporate share price is overstated

cover of Tracking_the_Market_Performance_of_Companies_That.2An article from the January 2016 edition of the Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine (JOEM) has been gaining some attention through social media networks.  The article, Tracking the Market Performance of Companies That Integrate a Culture of Health and Safety: An Assessment of Corporate Health Achievement Award Applicants, is being interpreted as evidence that health and safety programs lead to “superior market performance”.  Yes and No, but mostly No. Continue reading “Health program impact on corporate share price is overstated”

Can OHS achieve change in a neoliberal world?

The operation of the European Union is a mystery to everyone outside the EU and to most people in the EU.  Any organisation that juggles the legislation of over 20 countries has a thankless task but some of the work being undertaken by occupational health and safety (OHS) advocates provides a clarity on power relationships between employers and workers. I never tire of reading articles and editorials by Laurent Vogel of the European Trade Union Institute. Below is an excerpt from his editorial in the Autumn-Winter 2015 edition of HesaMag: Continue reading “Can OHS achieve change in a neoliberal world?”

Look back at the OHS books of 2015

All professionals need to keep up with contemporary thinking and not only in their own discipline.  Below is a list of the books that I have read and reviewed in 2015.  This is followed by a list of the books still in my reading pile that I will get round to soon.

Books I have written about this year:

Workplace Bullying by Joseph Catanzariti and Keryl Egan

Job Quality in Australia edited by Angela Knox and Chris Warhurst

Master Work Health and Safety Guide 2nd Edition, CCH Wolter Klouwers

Ten Pathways to Death and Disaster – Learning from Fatal Incidents in Mines and Other High Hazard Workplaces by Michael Quinlan

Nightmare Pipeline Failures: Fantasy Planning, Black Swans and Integrity Management by Jan Hayes and Andrew Hopkins

Safe Design and Construction of Machinery – Regulation, Practice and Performance by Elizabeth Bluff Continue reading “Look back at the OHS books of 2015”

Concatenate Web Development
© Designed and developed by Concatenate Aust Pty Ltd