stress – SafetyAtWorkBlog

Safety Behaviour – Beyond Compliance in the Modern Workplace

Safety behaviour is often discussed in terms of compliance—whether workers follow procedures, wear protective equipment, or report hazards. Yet, this view only scratches the surface of what safety behaviour truly means in today’s complex organisational environments. At its core, safety behaviour encompasses the observable actions and decisions individuals make that either promote or compromise health and safety. These actions are shaped not just by rules, but by a rich tapestry of social norms, leadership expectations, and the perceived consequences of speaking up or staying silent.

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Is the era of resilient people over?

In occupational health and safety (OHS) one hears about resilience usually in terms of psychological health and the ability to cope with stress. Applying a primary focus on resilience to prevent and manage mental health at work has been discredited, but resilience has a broader application and one that echoes the OHS-based concerns.

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WorkSafe Victoria’s Wake Up Call on Psychosocial Hazards

WorkSafe Victoria has just concluded a Safe Work Month webinar on psychosocial hazards and psychological risks, attended by around 14,000. The content was familiar to anyone who has been following the development of Victoria’s new occupational health and safety (OHS) over the last four years, but it was an important communications opportunity for WorkSafe with useful insight into employers’ perspectives on mental health at work.

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Pop Psychology Isn’t a Safety Strategy

Last week, I attended a webinar on psychological safety that confirmed all of my worst fears about the Human Resources approach to addressing psychosocial factors and mental health at work.

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Culture is the New Compliance in Victoria’s Psychological Health Code

The most significant challenges for employers in Victoria’s new OHS (Psychological Health) Regulations, supported by a new Compliance Code, are likely to be fostering a strong workplace safety culture. Occupational health and safety (OHS) advocates have been emphasising the importance of culture for several decades now (Sociologists examined it decades before). It appears that we will be hearing a great deal more about culture for some time to come, but what is expected of employers?

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Polishing What Exists: Making Sense of the New Psych Safety Code

Prominent occupational health and safety (OHS) lawyers Dale McQualter and Catherine Dunlop have just concluded the first of two online seminars about Victoria’s new psychological/psychosocial regulations and compliance code. Many employers will have a lot of work to do to comply, but the overall sense was one of reassurance.

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Victoria’s Psych Safety Code identifies preventions, and HR help will be needed

The release of new psychological safety workplace regulations and guidance in Victoria is a big thing. Partly because this closes the gap, with similar occupational health and safety (OHS) regulations now in place throughout Australia. Partly because Victoria was an early advocate for changes to these workplace hazards, and the government sat on its hands with this issue for far too long. (No one really knows why)

A quick read of the Compliance Code suggests that many of these hazards are unlikely to be controlled without the cooperation of Human Resources (HR) personnel. This might be the biggest challenge to achieving change and preventing harm.

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