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Over Twenty-Five Years After Longford, Are We Any Wiser?

Professor Andrew Hopkins transformed Australia’s occupational health and safety (OHS) approach through his research on mining safety management and disasters, and especially through his analysis of the Royal Commission into the Longford Gas Explosion. That Royal Commission was only the second in Victoria into an industrial disaster, following the one into the Westgate Bridge Collapse in 1970. His Longford analysis remarkably became a best-selling book and remains an obligatory read for OHS people, senior executives and OHS regulators.

In 2000, I interviewed Hopkins after a Lessons From Longford book launch in Victoria.

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Australian Workplaces Cannot Adapt Forever

On November 5 2026, Safe Work Australia (SWA) held a research webinar on the occupational health and safety (OHS) context of global warming/heating. This continued this year’s OHS theme, promoted by the International Labour Organisation. SWA will develop a strategy on the issue and can already draw on ILO research and frameworks, but OHS has very little political clout. Global warming has only slightly more. Addressing this existential risk will require significant, rapid change in social structures, purposes, and political policy. OHS has an important role to play, but the scale of climate change means that workplace safety interventions alone will never be enough.

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Bill Kelty on Why Working People Still Matter

Bill Kelty believes employers have an absolute duty to provide workers with a safe, healthy workplace. He asked how any company can operate without giving occupational health and safety (OHS) its highest priority.

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The Rigged System Behind Workplace Injury and Illness

At the time of writing, it looks like the Democrats in the United States are smashing the Republicans and President Trump in the mid-term elections. One of the earliest winners was Democrat Jon Ossoff. His campaign strategy, focused on calling out presidential and political corruption, seems to have worked. This strategy of blunt honesty could be exported to Australia and applied in arguments about reducing work-related injuries and deaths.

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When Burnout Is Framed as a Systems Problem But the Questions Remain Personal

Organisational psychologist John Chan recently launched his company’s 2026 State of Workplace Burnout Report, presenting burnout as a consequence of work design rather than individual resilience. While many of the findings of this grey literature will be familiar to OHS professionals, the audience questions offered interesting insight into how burnout is understood outside the safety profession.

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Psychosocial Safety Is Becoming a Governance Test, Not a Wellbeing Program

Three recent legal commentaries reveal something important about the evolution of workplace health and safety. They address different issues, from board governance to sexual harassment investigations and cumulative psychosocial hazards, but they all point to the same conclusion: employers are running out of opportunities to treat psychological health as an individual problem. We may be at the start of a work revolution.

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Real Work, Real Talk podcast

Michael Plowright and I enjoyed completing our 4th episode of the “Real Work, Real Talk” podcast. My background is occupational health and safety (OHS); Michael’s is consulting on workplace bullying and some Human Resources issues. These two disciplines need to talk with each other if employers are going to effectively manage psychological safety in their workplaces. We thought we should get things started.

Below is one review we have received:

“Safe Work, Real Talk is a coherent, engaging four-part podcast series that explores psychosocial hazards, leadership, workplace conflict, and organisational responsibility through the combined perspectives of OHS and HR.
While some episodes would benefit from stronger evidence, more workplace examples, and more debate between the hosts, the series succeeds through its authenticity, practical relevance, and willingness to challenge accepted assumptions, earning an overall rating of 8.5/10″

Episodes can be accessed at:

Stream SafetyAtWorkBlog | Listen to podcast episodes online for free on SoundCloud

SafetyAtWorkBlog – Podcast – Apple Podcasts

Safe Work, Real Talk at Working Well Together