Category: WorkSafe

ACT OHS gains more resources

Change is good.  Change in occupational health and safety laws and regulatory strategies is usually good as well, but some action in Australia is curious.

On 29 April 2010, the Government of the Australian Capital Territory(ACT) established”   a new body called WorkSafe ACT,  according to a media statement from the Attorney General, Simon Corbell:

“The new WorkSafe ACT will perform a crucial function within the ORS [The Office of Regulatory Services part of the Department of Justice & Community Services], and will combine the educational and compliance roles under the Commissioner for Work Safety…. Continue reading “ACT OHS gains more resources”

Inter-related issues of workplace bullying

Most of the workplace bullying attention in Australia in recent years has focussed on the white-collar industries and the relationship to stress, workload, harassment and policies for respect.   A case reported in the The Age newspaper on 29 April 2010 about bullying in a door frame company is reflective of apprentice bullying cases of over a decade ago but also illustrates the potential complexity of this workplace hazard. Continue reading “Inter-related issues of workplace bullying”

Professor Niki Ellis hits out at the state of OHS in Australia

“…OHS is not fit for the 21st century.  It is isolated, has a limited academic base and remit, uneven provision, lack of good quality data, a poor image and is perceived by many as the servant of the employer.”

Professor Niki Ellis speaks frankly about the OHS discipline in Australia.

Professor Niki Ellis recently was appointed the CEO of the Institute of Safety, Compensation and Recovery Research (ISCRR) after some time in the United Kingdom and a short period as the acting chair of the Safety Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission.  Prof Ellis provided a refreshing and confronting presentation to the 2009 Comcare Conference (pictured right) that SafetyAtWorkBlog attended. Continue reading “Professor Niki Ellis hits out at the state of OHS in Australia”

ACTU industrial officer is new WorkSafe executive

SafetyAtWorkBlog has been informed that Cath Bowtell has been appointed the new executive director of WorkSafe Victoria.  Bowtell’s name may be familiar to some Australians due to her recent contest to be the next President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU).

Cath Bowtell is due to take on the position in the middle of 2010. Continue reading “ACTU industrial officer is new WorkSafe executive”

Is the Education Dept getting off lightly?

If Victoria is the jurisdiction with the least changes needed to meet the new Work Health & Safety Act, it is worth looking at a recent enforcement activity.  On 21 April 2010, WorkSafe Victoria announced an enforceable undertaking with the Department of Education & Early Childhood Development (DEECD).

According to the WorkSafe media release this agreement

“…requires all equipment in woodwork, metalwork and automotive secondary school classrooms to be audited by the end of the year – including equipment like planers, grinders and drills.  Equipment which isn’t safe will be removed from use immediately or repaired, and all equipment will be recorded on a centralised register……

The undertaking also requires the DEECD to implement health and safety management systems across all secondary schools, which will be audited annually by specially trained staff members and overseen by WorkSafe.”

This undertaking implies that some schools did not already have an OHS management system or that some had not maintained the system in place at the time.  There are thematic similarities with the Orewa College explosion and prosecution in New Zealand in 2009. Continue reading “Is the Education Dept getting off lightly?”

Australian safety conference – confused but in a good way

Day 2 of the Safety In Action Conference is almost over and I am confused.  Some speakers say that safety cannot be improved without commitment from the most senior executives of a company.  Others are saying that safety improvement can be best achieved by trusting employees.

One speaker questioned the validity of the risk management approach to safety.  A colleague argued that this was not a return to prescriptive legislation, regulation and codes of practice but an opportunity for companies to assess their needs and set their own “rules” of compliance based on the risk assessment results, effectively determining their own level of OHS compliance.

Another speaker speculated that a particular Federal Minister may have been prosecuted under the model Work Health & Safety Act if Ministers had not been excluded from their duty of care.

Some see new the OHS laws as revolutionary, others see it as tweaking a legislative approach that is over 30 years old.

Some speakers I found thought-provoking, others thought these were facile and had lousy PowerPoint skills.

What this Safety In Action Conference in Australia has not been is dull.   Continue reading “Australian safety conference – confused but in a good way”

Minister says public service safety performance is lamentable

“….I would ….suggest that government (as employer and dutyholder, and as policy maker) can, and should, be an exemplar of OHS best practice.  By taking the lead in the systematic management of occupational health and safety, government can influence the behaviour of individuals and firms upon whom duties are imposed by the OHS legislation.”

In 2004, Chris Maxwell QC wrote the above words in his review of the OHS legislation in Victoria. According to a report in the Australian Financial Review (only available by subscription or hard copy) on 6 April 2010, the Minister for WorkCover, Tim Holding, seems to share some of Maxwell’s view.   Holding is reported to have said in a speech that

“The truth is that the performance of workplace safety in the Victorian public service continues to be lamentable Continue reading “Minister says public service safety performance is lamentable”

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