Category: workplace

OHS and the diversity, equality and inclusivity backlash

The Australian Financial Review has looked at the local Australian context of the United States opposition to continuing workplace initiatives on diversity, equality and inclusivity (DEI), The AFR contacted some Australian technology companies for their leaders’ thoughts as overseas the DEI opposition seems loudest in tech companies.  The media attention overseas has also come from the activities of some right-wing anti-woke activists. The opposition seems to deny or ignore some of the evidence for DEI contributing to company profitability, cultural strength and occupational health and safety (OHS).

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Workplace factors are missing from “The Science of Stress”

I am sure someone much wiser than me has produced this aphorism: “One can learn from what is said, but often learn more from what is not.” If not, I will claim it. I thought of this while reading the National Geographic special edition (August 2024) magazine on “The Science of Stress.” I looked for the editor’s thoughts on the origin of work-related stress and prevention methods. They were largely missing.

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Seeing OHS law as a social law could change how OHS is seen and its future

Occupational health and safety has traditionally been considered under the category of industrial, or industrial relations, but largely this is due to the major advocates of OHS being the trade union movement. So OHS seems to fit with workers’ rights under the issues of wages and conditions, but really OHS is a social law.

According to one definition social law is:

“…any law, rule or regulation (including international treaty obligations) applicable in any jurisdiction concerning 
– labour, 
– social security, 
– the regulation of industrial relations (between government, employers and employees),
– the protection of occupational, as well as public, health and safety, 
– the regulation of public participation, 
– the protection and regulation of ownership of land rights (both formal and traditional), immovable goods and intellectual and cultural property rights, 
– the protection and empowerment of indigenous peoples or ethnic groups, 
– the protection, restoration and promotion of cultural heritage, and 
– all other laws, rules and regulations providing for the protection of employees and citizens.”

OHS meets several elements of this definition.

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This 2025 forecast offers mixed messaging

Risk and governance software company Navex published a forecast for 2025 which has some occupational health and safety (OHS) relevance.  It wrote “Rising temperatures in the workplace: Addressing civility concerns” which said

“Workplaces increasingly mirror the polarization we see in the world, with tensions surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives, and political differences bubbling to the surface in workplace discord. Ideally, the workplace should be a collaborative environment, but now is a minefield of potential heated disagreements, making workplace civility a top priority for organizations.”

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Disciplinary overlaps may help with worker engagement

There is a considerable overlap between organisational psychology, Human Resources and occupational health and safety (OHS), even though each has developed its own culture and language. People are just starting to acknowledge the overlap and trying to increase it.

One example of that overlap was on display in an interview with prominent podcaster Mel Robbins, who admitted that:

“The hardest thing about what I do is that oftentimes the advice and the tools sound dumb or repetitive…”

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New class action on sexual abuse in Australian mining

Many of the prominent Australian mining companies are in the process of changing their cultures to minimise the risk of sexual assaults and harassment after several recent damning inquiries into worker health and safety. Everyone seems to agree that cultural change can take a long time. I am not convinced.  Change will take time if one operates within the existing organisational and operational parameters and structures. But sometimes, the harm to workers is so great that a long time exacerbates unfairness and injustice.

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Lively/Baldoni discussion misses the cause of the harm

Over the last few weeks, the media has been reporting on legal action taken by Blake Lively over accusations of sexual harassment on the film set of her movie “It Ends With Us”. The focus has been on the allegations of post-incident public relations manipulation, but this is obscuring the primary cause of the legal action – sexual harassment.

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