Australia flags more inclusive strategies for suicide prevention

In late January 2020, the Australian Health Minister, Greg Hunt, announced new funding for suicide prevention programs. As the announcement occurred during the increasing concerns over the coronavirus, media attention to the funding announcement was minimal and this overlooked an important shift in suicide prevention strategies.

Six months ago the Prime Minister appointed Christine Morgan as his Suicide Prevention Adviser. As part of the funding announcement, Morgan spoke about a major change to suicide prevention strategies that acknowledges that not all suicides result from mental illness – a reality that has been emphasised by some Australian researchers for over several years. Significantly Christine Morgan is reported in Newscorp media as saying:

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New air quality standards for outdoor work

On January 30 2020, the Victorian Trades Hall released a new “approved safety standard” on air quality risks for outdoor workers. It is the latest of a series of alerts and guidelines generated by the persistence of bushfire smoke in urban areas of, especially, New South Wales and Victoria. Bushfire smoke is only going to become more frequent in Australia, and its persistence over weeks, requires a coordinated discussion on how Australian workplaces and practices need to change to adapt to the new climate.

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On safety, the PM says it’s all about the economy

Source:istockphoto

Australia’s conservative Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, spoke at the National Press Club yesterday and his speech showed that if occupational health and safety (OHS) is to progress over his term of government, economic arguments will be the most persuasive.

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Welcome and Thanks

A December special offer brought in a lot of new subscribers to the SafetyAtWorkBlog. Welcome and Thanks.

Some readers will notice that this January the blog has produced thirty articles of unique content, news and commentary. This is excellent value for a month’s subscription of around $26.00 but subscribers don’t only receive new articles.

Subscribers have full access to thousands of articles written over the last decade or so and they are encouraged to use the Keyword search to follow the thematic threads of many work health and safety issues that have evolved over that time.

SafetyAtWorkBlog has become an important information resource and a joy to keep writing, but it needs subscriptions to continue to do this so please, if you can afford a monthly or annual subscription, start your year with access to a unique OHS information library.

Over the next two months, there will be articles about:

  • Industrial Manslaughter
  • Ethics
  • Unconscious Bias
  • Bullying
  • Workplace Mental Health
  • Sexual Harassment at Work

Don’t miss out on leading thoughts and new information about the hazards you are expected to understand and manage.

Kevin Jones

Ballarat workers’ memorial

Ballarat Trades Hall is looking for an artist to design and produce a memorial to Jack Brownlee and Charlie Howkins who died as a result of a trench collapse in Delacombe, Victoria in 2018. Any memorial requires careful consideration and broad consultation with all the relevant stakeholders.

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Worker exploitation may be cultural but is still harmful

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has released a media statement based on new research into mental illness and suicidal ideation of junior doctors. Given that the relationship between excessive working hours and mental health is increasingly becoming an occupational health and safety (OHS) issue, SafetyAtWorkBlog sought some clarification to some of the quotes in the statement attributed to AMA President, Dr Tony Bartone.

The January 23 2020 media release quoted Bartone saying:

“A healthy medical profession is vital to patient safety and quality of care, and the sustainability of the medical workforce,… Significant evidence already exists to show that doctors are at greater risk of psychological distress and stress-related problems. This new research provides clear additional insight into how the workplace can affect the health and wellbeing of the medical profession. Long working hours, unpredictable rosters, overtime, being on-call, and night shifts are significant systemic barriers to the maintenance of physical and mental health and wellbeing. There is an established link between working more hours and having higher rates of anxiety, depression, and psychological distress.”

These are the questions put to the AMA:

  • The media release lists several “systemic barriers” that are generating poor psychological health. It seems that most of these barriers would be removed or weakened if hospitals had more staff. Is the psychological harm a result of insufficient staffing levels? And is this a result of underinvestment in hospitals?
  • Is the fatigue, psychological harm, etc. a result of trying to make do with the available resources? If so, what new income or labour sources are being sought?
  • Why do you think the trend towards safe working hours stalled?
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