In 2004, the hottest occupational health and safety (OHS) topic was industrial manslaughter. In Melbourne, there were seminars on the topic that easily topped 200 participants. However it was also a year of confusion and fear, which may have accounted for the good seminar attendance figures. At that time I was producing an online PDF …
Gaby Grammeno has been writing about workplace health and safety (WHS) issues for longer than I have. Her work for Workplace OHS, a subscription OHS news service, includes an “ask an expert” service and her latest is a comparison between the OHS/WHS laws involving “reckless endangerment” and “industrial manslaughter”. The article is of interest to …
Victoria has passed legislation to licence the labour hire industry. Occupational health and safety (OHS) gets a mention, in some ways. The objects of this Act seem fairly straightforward: ” to protect workers from being exploited by providers of labour hire services and hosts; and to improve the transparency” The explanatory memorandum sounds promising. Clause 23 …
Safe Work Australia’s work-related psychological health and safety guidance focusses on the elimination risks and hazards, as required under Australia’s workplace health and safety laws. But a slight technical change in the legislation when it moved from occupational health and safety (OHS) to work health and safety (WHS) impedes its successful acceptance. Australia’s Work Health …
A SafetyAtWorkBlog reader emailed me this question: “does a loss of shift due to fatigue equal a Lost Time Injury?” My standard response is “why not?” This type of LTI (Lost Time Injury) issue is one that will become increasingly common as the occupational health and safety (OHS) prominence of wellness and work-related psychological health … Continue reading “Does a loss of shift due to fatigue = a Lost Time Injury?”
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) has released a very good report about Australia’s immigration detention centres which includes a long discussion on duty of care to detainees under Common Law. The report, “In Poor Health: Health care in Australian immigration detention” does not include any discussion on the duty of care under work health …
Throwing chocolates to delegates, audience participation, push-ups, book giveaways, hand-eye coordination exercises – not the usual elements of the opening keynote speaker of a safety conference. Day 2 of the Safety Institute of Australia’s recent conference had a more traditional opening with presentations from a State workplace safety regulator and Australia’s occupational health and safety …