The coronavirus pandemic may have disrupted plans for International Workers Memorial Day, but it also has taken some of the sting out of the activation of Victoria’s Industrial Manslaughter (IM) laws on July 1 2020.
The submissions for the humanising occupational health and safety challenge continue to roll in. Daniel McConville of McConville OHS & Risk Solutions is the latest.
If you want to humanise the occupational health and safety profession consider emailing through your answers to these questions.
How did you get into Health & Safety?
I was working on a contract and renegotiated just prior to the contract finishing. With the change, my position became redundant and I was asked to take on the OHS role. After almost 20 years working in a kitchen, I enjoyed the less ‘physical’ stress.
What drives you?
Continue reading “OHS and Daniel McConville”Seeing employers doing the right thing is a big driver. That keeps giving me hope that we are changing the culture and thinking, one employer at a time.
On March 24, 2020, Michael Bradley, a lawyer with Marque Lawyers, wrote about the pressures on employers presented by COVID19 and government restrictions. Bradley touched on occupational health and safety (OHS) but needed to go deeper.
ILO’s World Day on Safety and Health at Work occurs each year on April 28. Events are centred around monuments and places in capital cities and towns, speeches about the importance of occupational health and safety (OHS) are made and symbolic gestures are given.
The World Day is intended to be an acknowledgement of the importance of OHS for all workers and people of all political stances. The aim is to focus on workplace deaths, and the practical actions to prevent those deaths, not the politics of those deaths, but far more prominence is given to the trade union movement’s International Workers Memorial Day held on the same day.
So how will these memorial days work in this year of COVID19?
The Australia Institute conducted a webinar on Australia’s economic future during and after the COVID19 pandemic. Former Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan and economist Richard Denniss were the featured speakers. Two particular issues were of relevance to occupational health and safety (OHS) – the future of the gig economy and re-industrialisation.
Could improving the situational awareness of workers replace Safe Work Method Statements?
Many Australian occupational health and safety (OHS) professionals rally against the dominance of Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS). The application of SWMS beyond the legislated high-risk construction work parameters increases the amount of safety clutter and misrepresents OHS as being able to be satisfied by a, predominantly, tick-and-flick exercise. But critics of SWMS are rarely pushed on what, if anything, should replace SWMS? SafetyAtWorkBlog asked some experts and looked closer at the issue.
Ian Good is a Principal Consultant with Hazcon and has accepted the offer to humanise occupational health and safety (OHS). Links have been added for those intrigued by Ian’s responses.
How did you get into Health & Safety?
My wife worked with the owner’s wife and after being made redundant from a Start-Up I was asked to come on board in an operations role.
What drives you?
Continue reading “OHS and Ian Good”The positive response you get from people who you provide consulting advice to; can be major companies or the smallest business.