workplace – Page 170 – SafetyAtWorkBlog

Canadian research shows occupational link to breast cancer

“Certain occupational exposures appear to increase the risk of developing postmenopausal breast cancer”, is a conclusion reached by Canadian researchers and released in April 2010 edition of the Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine.

The researchers acknowledged that “some findings might be due to chance or to undetected bias some findings might be due to chance or to undetected bias”, but there is enough evidence to generate concern in occupational sectors and, often, the media shows increased interest in breast cancer research.

Several Australian scientists have advised caution on interpreting the research findings. Continue reading “Canadian research shows occupational link to breast cancer”

Employees’ OHS responsibility and working beyond the maximum hours

One of the most powerful motivators for behavioural change in workplaces is the legislative obligation on employees to not put themselves at risk of injury nor to act in such a way as to place others at risk.

Reported in the Australian media on 31 March 2010, Fair Work Australia has ruled that employees in the fruit-picking industry may volunteer for work beyond the standard 38-hour week without receiving penalty rates or overtime. The union movement is understandably concerned about how this financially disadvantages workers and how this ruling may spread beyond the fruit-picking industry.

The ruling allows fruit-pickers to choose to work beyond their regular shifts. Will they be able to work safely? Will they not be fatigued? Will they have sufficient daylight to undertake the tasks safely? Will there be sufficient downtime for workers to recover from a long work day and be fit for work? Could the workers’ choice to undertake additional fruit-picking tasks be a breach of their OHS obligations to look after their own safety, health and welfare?

The employees may choose to ignore their own occupational health for the sake of additional dollars but should they then be eligible for workers’ compensation if the effects of those longer hours are found to have contributed to an injury or illness? Continue reading “Employees’ OHS responsibility and working beyond the maximum hours”

Psychosocial hazards are now, formally, occupational diseases

On 25 March 2010, the International Labour Organization released an updated list of occupational diseases. On the ILO website, it is stated that

“Mental and behavioural disorders have for the first time, been specifically included in the ILO list.”

All occupational diseases, including psychosocial hazards, had to satisfy the following criteria in order to be considered:

“…that there is a causal relationship with a specific agent, exposure or work process;
that they occur in connection with the work environment and/or in specific occupations;
that they occur among the groups of workers concerned with a frequency which exceeds the average incidence within the rest of the population; and
that there is scientific evidence of a clearly defined pattern of disease following exposure and plausibility of cause.”

The exact text from the revised List of Occupational Diseases Recommendation R194 is

“2.4. Mental and behavioural disorders

2.4.1. Post-traumatic stress disorder

2.4.2. Other mental or behavioural disorders not mentioned in the preceding item where a direct link is established scientifically, or determined by methods appropriate to national conditions and practice, between the exposure to risk factors arising from work activities and the mental and behavioural disorder(s) contracted by the worker”

What this means in practice is unclear and is likely to vary from country to country in relation to recognition of UN and ILO recommendations. What it does establish is that an international authoritative OHS body has acknowledged the existence of psychosocial hazards.

“The Eagle has landed” however there will remain some organisations who will always believe that occupational causes of psychosocial problems belong on the same sound-stage as the Apollo moon landings.

Kevin Jones

Government can do much better on level crossing safety

The Victorian Government is likely to say the Auditor-General’s report into “Management of Safety Risks at Level Crossings“, released on 24 March 2010, supports the government’s initiatives. This is true but the report says much more than just describing the State Government’s efforts as “satisfactory”. (If my child’s report card said satisfactory, I would be talking to the teacher about why the performance was only “satisfactory”)

The report summary says the following:

“The rate of progress in improving safety and reducing accidents has been satisfactory. There are, however, elements of the risk management framework and its application that can be improved.”

These elements are specified as

“improving how the committee is informed of the views of the rail managers, who run train services and maintain the infrastructure, about their risks and priorities

assembling information that will allow the committee to effectively manage and monitor the delivery of the Towards Zero strategy

improving the understanding of what causes level crossing collisions.” [link added]

Clearly the Parliamentary committee is not getting the full risk story from the rail managers. Continue reading “Government can do much better on level crossing safety”

OHS awards consider work/life balance but not vice versa

On 15 March 2010, the Australian Government congratulated the winners of, and participants in, the 2009–10 National Work–Life Balance Awards.

According to a media release from the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations:

“The Awards…. recognise family friendly practices like flexible working hours, options for working from home, paid parental leave, job sharing, onsite carer’s facilities and study assistance.”

Teleworking and flexible working hours are both directly relevant to occupational health safety but also through the OHS elements of work/life balance. But the National Work-Life Balance Awards Team told SafetyAtWorkBlog that

“No direct OHS performance indicators were included in the judging criteria for the 2009-10 National Work-LIfe Balance Awards.” Continue reading “OHS awards consider work/life balance but not vice versa”

Does being fat equate to being unsafe at work?

There are several initiatives throughout the world under the banner of workplace health that have little relation to work. They are public health initiatives administered through the workplace with, often, a cursory reference to the health benefits also having a productivity benefit.

So is a fat worker less safe than a thin worker? Such a general question cannot be answered but it illustrates an assumption that is underpinning many of the workplace health initiatives. There is little doubt that workers with chronic health conditions take more leave but, in most circumstances, this leave is already accounted for in the business plan.

Sick leave is estimated at a certain level for all workers across a workplace and, sometimes, a nation. There is an entitlement for a certain amount of sick leave for all workers, fat and thin, “healthy” or “unhealthy”. It certainly does not mean that the entitlement will be taken every year but the capacity is there and businesses accommodate this in their planning and costs.

Remove this generic entitlement so that only working hours remain. Is a fat worker less productive than a thin worker? Is a worker without any ailments more productive than a person with a chronic ailment? Is a smoker more productive than a non-smoker or a diabetic or a paraplegic? Continue reading “Does being fat equate to being unsafe at work?”

Snopes can cut through the OHS bull

Chain letters were bad enough in the old days when both stamps and envelopes were licked but the internet has resurrected a lot of myths simply because it costs next to nothing to distribute the crap. Urban myths have evolved into internet outrage and, sadly, even OHS professionals forward on this rubbish. Continue reading “Snopes can cut through the OHS bull”

Category: workplace

Canadian research shows occupational link to breast cancer

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Employees’ OHS responsibility and working beyond the maximum hours

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Psychosocial hazards are now, formally, occupational diseases

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Government can do much better on level crossing safety

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OHS awards consider work/life balance but not vice versa

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Does being fat equate to being unsafe at work?

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Snopes can cut through the OHS bull

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