Last year, Tasmania began building a memorial garden for people who have been killed at work. South Australia has the Don Gage Memorial Walk. Queensland unveiled its new workers’ memorial on 28 April 2010. The Australian government has finally sought to establish a national memorial in Canberra in support of the International Day of Mourning. … Continue reading “Australia to get a national workers’ memorial”
Motivating workers and managers to improve safety performance through rewards has been a contentious element of safety management processes for decades but no-one seems to have got it right. Most bonus/award/reward systems are able to be manipulated. An article in the Harvard Business Review and Australian Financial Review may add another dimension to the discussion by looking at the psychological effects … Continue reading “Cash motivates, toasters create dissent”
On 1 July 2009, the Australian industrial relations (IR) climate changed with the introduction of the Fair Work Act. Regardless of the politics of the new Act’s origin, this legislation changes the way that working conditions for Australians are negotiated and set. The Fair Work Act has no relevance to occupational health and safety, so … Continue reading “Fair Work Act and OHS”
The fragility of Australia’s agreement for OHS harmonisation is illustrated in an article by Michael Stutchbury of The Australian. He mentions the potential domino effect resulting from the West Australian Treasurer’s desire to keep his options open. New South Wales and Queensland see that a (politically unpalatable) out is possible. The freshest information in his … Continue reading “Union abuse of workplace safety”