Search Results for: prevention

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Global pressures on Australian workers compensation schemes

Around 18 months ago the Victoria Government launched WorkHealth, a health prevention program that would be funded from the interest generated from the pool of workers compensation funds.  SafetyAtWorkBlog has previously questioned how the program will be funded when its income source is likely to have been severely reduced due to the global economic problems. … Continue reading “Global pressures on Australian workers compensation schemes”

Death of a safety leader

Last weekend Dr Eric Wigglesworth passed away after a long illness. Eric was a strong advocate for safety education and research over decades in Australia. I heard Eric speak several times in my professional career and remember being taught about his incident theories at university.

Over the last few years his profile has increased in the public sphere as he was the (only) Australian expert on the issues related to level crossing incidents.

Should the OHS Profession be Regulated?

There is a strong campaign to improve the level of professionalism in occupational health and safety in Australia.  Several safety-related bodies have achieved this already by being far-sighted and progressive, others have not.  Concerns over the inconsistency of health and safety advice spurred WorkSafe Victoria to coordinate the establishment of a Health & Safety Professionals … Continue reading “Should the OHS Profession be Regulated?”

Comcare’s new role

The scuttlebutt in some Australian OHS circles is that Australia’s Comcare agency will be given a major upgrade through the National OHS Review recommendations that is nearing completion. Although the Minister for Workplace Relations, Julia Gillard, did not name the new agency that she intends to introduce through the Coalition of Australian Governments process, SafetyAtWorkBlog … Continue reading “Comcare’s new role”

Eliminating hazards

In the aims of most of the Australian OHS legislation is  “to eliminate, at the source, risks to the health, safety and welfare of employees and other persons at work…” I have written elsewhere on how this conflicts with the push for “reasonably practicable” but the need to remember this important aim was emphasised by … Continue reading “Eliminating hazards”

It is harder to prevent than compensate, but more important

Tonight in Adelaide the President of the Australian Human Rights Commission, Catherine Branson QC, will be delivering the 2008 Don Dunstan Foundation Oration. Ms Branson has said “I want to live in a society where everyone can take advantage of his or her abilities and where everyone has a real say about the world they … Continue reading “It is harder to prevent than compensate, but more important”

Competent safety professionals

Australian worksites have established a system of red, green or blue cards that are used to indicate a level of OHS competence on a range of worksites.  This type of system is reflected around the world in different industries and different forms, such as Safety Passports, or the green card in Canada and the United … Continue reading “Competent safety professionals”