violence – Page 17 – SafetyAtWorkBlog

Controlling Christmas party risks is a year-round activity

Every year, around this time, law firms and OHS regulators release statements and good OHS advice about the risks of Christmas and end-of-year work parties. But companies who wait until now to introduce control measures and policies for the risks of occupational violence, sexual harassment and reputational damage have, largely, missed the opportunity to effectively manage these risks.

The need to enforce safe behaviours at work functions is not a seasonal process but one that is integral to the establishment of a safe workplace culture the year round. This is not to say that a friendly reminder is not useful but, if managed well, it should be nothing more than a reminder.

Of all the OHS advice for parties, Workplace Health & Safety Queensland is most succinct:

“remind staff about workplace policies in particular bullying, sexual harassment and discrimination

serve alcohol responsibly

provide food and non-alcoholic drinks Continue reading “Controlling Christmas party risks is a year-round activity”

Half price psychosocial hazard books

Rarely does SafetyAtWorkBlog recommend the purchase of books but Federation Press is offering 50% off any Willan Publishing titles through to 17 December 2010. For those unfamiliar with this publisher, below are some of the titles that are relevant to occupational health and safety:

Safety Crimes by Steve Tombs and David Whyte

Workplace Violence by Vaughan Bowie, Bonnie Fisher and Cary L Cooper

Violence at Work by Martin Gill, Bonnie Fisher and Vaughan Bowie

There are many other titles concerning social issues which may be of relevance to some industrial sectors.

Kevin Jones

Note: SafetyAtWorkBlog occasionally receives review copies from Federation Press but with this special offer, a selection of books have been purchased.

Death at work and work-related death

People die every day. Some die in their sleep in bed, some collapse in the street, some suicide at a place of their choosing, others die at work. But for those who die at work there is an important differentiation between dying at work and dying from work.

The differentiation can be fairly simple to determine but can be muddied by workplace politics. For instance, the South Australian desalination project (video report available) has had one work-related fatality but there have been at least three deaths on-site. Determining what is work-related is important for safety managers as this affects the way an incident is investigated, the resources allocated to the investigation and the level of emphasis placed on prevention. Continue reading “Death at work and work-related death”

Workplace bullying needs prompt and concise action to be effective

It is very important to treat media reports of bullying with a great deal of scepticism. An article in the Herald-Sun on 20 July 2010 is a good example of the collation of new and old information intended to generate alarm or outrage.

Werribee Secondary College has had several incidents of occupational violence and school violence. All schools will have bullying incidents of student to student but these can be minimised and controlled with effort, commitment and vision. Bullying between staff is different, although the controls are similar, and inhabits the different legislative context of OHS. WorkSafe Victoria has been involved with workplace bullying incidents in the education sector in the past.

The Herald-Sun builds on the myth that teachers have it easy because of the amount of leave that is scheduled. The current article entitled “Teacher seeks bullying payout” has a headline about workplace bullying but the article mixes up student bullying and workplace bullying as if they are the same issue but to different degrees and with different participants.

The Victorian Education Department has addressed the issue of workplace bullying to some extent. The department has several sites devoted to bullying issues and occupational violence but much of it refers back to policies and reactionary responses. Continue reading “Workplace bullying needs prompt and concise action to be effective”

ICAP Congress of Applied Psychology is a neglected OHS resource

In July 2010, Melbourne Australia is hosting the 2010 conference of the International Congress of Applied Psychology. What was an OHS consultant at this conference? The question should be why wasn’t OHS consultants at this conference?

This conference is not about workplace safety, per se. It is about how people think and communicate. It provides research (some would say evidence), often about how people relate to each other at work. The exciting content of this ICAP Conference makes the Safety In Action Conference look like a history lesson.

The conference has made the full program and the speaker abstracts online, for free. Both are big PDF files but are excellent resources for those OHS professionals looking for the latest research into bullying, driver safety, health & wellbeing, organisational behaviour, leadership, fatigue, stress and other issues. Continue reading “ICAP Congress of Applied Psychology is a neglected OHS resource”

Apprentice set on fire, bully gets $5k penalty

Most of the Australian media covered the prosecution of the latest of three young men who set fire to a work colleague during their apprenticeships.

As the case was heard in a Magistrates’ Court, the only sources of information on the case are a couple of original media reports and the statement from WorkSafe Victoria which says:

“Matthew Lever, 23, was the third apprentice to be prosecuted after a January 2008 incident where three apprentice mechanics ignited brake-cleaning fluid which they sprayed on another apprentice….

The Ringwood Magistrates’ court today [1 July 2010] convicted Matthew Lever on three charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and fined him $5,000. The two other apprentices were convicted on health and safety charges in December 2008, and also fined $5,000 each.” [link added]

WorkSafe says it is “currently investigating a similar incident which occurred in Dandenong in March, where two apprentice mechanics suffered burn injuries after allegedly igniting brake fluid.” Continue reading “Apprentice set on fire, bully gets $5k penalty”

A glimpse behind the CEO veneer

The Australian Financial Review published a brief profile of the 53-year-old CEO of the ANZ Banking Group, Mike Smith, on 22 April 2010 (page 23, not available online). The article ostensibly reported on an ambush and shooting that Smith experienced in South America in 2007 but it also revealed some of his attitudes to leadership and OHS.

Mike Smith stated that as a CEO of a large organisation

“…you really can’t have work-life balance”.

This is not to say that his staff cannot have such a benefit but it sends a message to all those would-be CEOs that personal safety, health and one’s family will be sacrificed if you reach the top. The implication is that work-life balance needs to be sacrificed on the way to the top although Smith may be describing his own pathway. Continue reading “A glimpse behind the CEO veneer”

Category: violence

Controlling Christmas party risks is a year-round activity

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Half price psychosocial hazard books

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Death at work and work-related death

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Workplace bullying needs prompt and concise action to be effective

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ICAP Congress of Applied Psychology is a neglected OHS resource

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Apprentice set on fire, bully gets $5k penalty

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A glimpse behind the CEO veneer

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