Victoria’s Minister for WorkCover, Assistant Treasurer Gordon Rich-Phillips, obviously felt obliged to get in early for the 2012 WorkSafe Week by stating, in a media release, that: “Victoria is the safest state in Australia in which to work” Rich-Phillips quotes a range of statistics based on a recent report by Safe Work Australia (SWA) – the Fourteenth Edition of the … Continue reading “Victorian Minister claims “safest state in Australia””
With the change of political heart from some of Australia’s state governments over the harmonisation of occupational health and safety laws, many academic and legal publishers revised their book plans as the national market was less national. However, some continued to publish understanding that although OHS harmonisation had a political deadline of 1 January 2012, … Continue reading “New book on OHS laws challenges current understandings of workplace safety”
The Victorian Government has released the PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC) assessment of the potential economic impacts of the introduction of the national Work Health and safety laws. The government media statement accompanying the report states that “The proposed laws do not deliver on the intent of the COAG reform agreed to in 2008 which aimed to reduce the … Continue reading “Victoria’s analysis of OHS law costs is unhelpful politics”
“When we look at global trends it’s clear that Australia’s labour laws are not the primary cause of the contraction in manufacturing.” Shelley Marshall, a Monash University researcher and Fair Wear Australia spokesperson made this statement at an Australian Senate inquiry on 2 February, 2012. The statement, reported in The Australian Financial Review (not available online), … Continue reading “The lobbying for “control” impedes corporate and OHS growth”
There is increasing attention being given to the preparation of Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS) in Australian OHS laws. Amongst many purposes, SWMS should provide a basic risk assessment of tasks being undertaken, usually, that day. Often SWMS are too generic by being prepared days or weeks earlier, often SWMS miss the big risks by … Continue reading “Inadequate risk assessment results in an injured worker and $99k fine”
Over the last few months I have been using my iPad to take photographs of good and bad workplace practices. These photos are usually shown to a site or business manager after a visit so that control measures can be identified. The advantage of an iPad is that no one has to squint at a … Continue reading “OHS app is attractive but may be no better than a paper system”
Safety and risk professionals often need to consider the “worst case scenario”. But we hesitate to look at the worst case scenario of workplace mental health – suicide. On 26 August 2011, Lifeline presented a seminar to Victorian public servants that was brilliant, confronting and worrying. Lifeline campaigns on suicide prevention and it seems to … Continue reading “Suicide challenges the OHS profession”