Everyone has struggled through the COVID-19 pandemic. Many have died. We have to continue to make many allowances for businesses and people due to the disruption, but some are using the pandemic as an excuse for not doing something. Occupational health and safety (OHS) inactivity is being blamed on COVID-19 in some instances, masking or skewing people’s approach to workplace health and safety more generally.
Continue reading “Over-emphasising the COVID pandemic”Category: stress
HR inching its way to an OHS epiphany
A new Human Resources (HR) article shows some promise in addressing the institutional factors that lead to poor mental health in workers.
The website for Human Resources Director asks, “Should HR be concerned about employee economic insecurity?” I would ask, “how can it not be?” given that Australian research over the last twenty years and international research since early last century has identified that job insecurity is one of several major factors in poor mental health for workers and other occupational health and safety (OHS) outcomes. HR should also be anticipating a renewed duty of care from the upcoming national OHS regulations on psychologically healthy workplaces.
Already a member? Log in here
Political point-scoring misses the point
Last week the Australian Financial Review (AFR) caused a bit of a political stink by reporting that:
“….Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show the share of casual employment was 22.8 per cent in February – 1.3 percentage points lower than in February 2020, just before the pandemic hit the economy.
AFR, April 12 2022 – Albanese’s casual jobs claim is ‘wrong’, according to ABS data
The casualisation rate is 4.8 percentage points below the peak of 27.6 per cent in 2003.”
The figures seem accurate but do not tell the whole story. How are employment statistics relevant to occupational health and safety (OHS)? Job insecurity is a significant factor in work-related mental health.
Already a member? Log in here
No fanfare for Victoria’s workers’ compensation review
This week the Victorian Government released Peter Rozen‘s report called Improving the experience of injured workers: A review of WorkSafe Victoria’s management of complex workers’ compensation claims. The public release has been long anticipated as it has been sitting with the Minister for Workplace Safety, Ingrid Stitt, since April 2021.
The Review was forced on the Government after the second damning report on WorkSafe Victoria’s performance from Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass. In some ways, Rozen’s report can be seen as the third report into the Victorian workers’ compensation scheme.
Already a member? Log in here
Workplace bullying in politics
Workplace Bullying is once again in the headlines and once again related to politicians and the stress they face. Two cases in particular are the focus. One in Victoria involving Kaushaliya Vaghela who resigned from the Australian Labor Party after revealing accusations of bullying. The other concerns Senator Kimberley Kitching who died of a heart attack recently and who, some of her friends and colleagues assert, was bullied by work colleagues.
Allegations of this type are very difficult to investigate and filter as so many issues and allegations are raised in the media by anonymous sources.
Both jurisdictions, Victoria and Federal, are due for elections this year which may have contributed to the level and type of media attention.
Already a member? Log in here
We need a revolution in how we think about working hours
If there was only one way available to improve the health and safety of workers in Australia, it would be to limit and enforce working hours to those in the official Awards and job descriptions.
This situation which would really be simply a case of working-to-rule, would need to be supported by other not unreasonable changes, in no particular order:
Already a member? Log in here
Notifiable psych injuries may be what’s needed
Recently the Victorian Government proposed six-monthly reports on psychologically hazardous incidents from employers to the OHS regulator, WorkSafe. The aim is to improve the pool of data available to the government in order to tailor harm prevention and reduction initiatives and a red tape campaign from employers is expected. These incident summaries are not the same as reporting a Notifiable Incident to WorkSafe but the notifiable incidents categories are overdue for a review and, maybe, an expansion.
Already a member? Log in here