The Communications Division of the CEPU has been in negotiations with Australia Post for some time to establish a pathway to better industrial relations. On 18 March 2010 a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed between the two parties, committing both to progress. Of direct OHS interest is the following paragraph in the media statement about the MOU: “As a gesture of … Continue reading “LTIFRs (sort of) gone from Australia Post”
In December 2009, SafetyAtWorkBlog reported the comments by the English Conservative leader, David Cameron, on some concerns he had about the direction of occupational health and safety in England and how the newspapers were reporting OHS. On 15 March 2010, The Independent published an article by the CEO of the Institute of Occupational Safety & Health (IOSH), Rob Strange. [IOSH says it is … Continue reading “The OHS profession in Australia needs a saviour. Has anyone got one spare?”
February 2010 was the first month for SafetyAtWorkBlog to achieve well over 10,000 readers. Thanks for all your support. Also in February 2010, the ClustrMaps widget was installed. Every month or so the graphic representations on the world map will be reconfigured to show the countries from which the blog is being read. There are no privacy concerns with this as … Continue reading “Blog data by region”
On 15 March 2010, the National President of the Safety Institute of Australia (SIA), Barry Silburn, distributed an email to the 3,600 SIA members strongly refuting the “unsubstantiated claims of irregularities” that were, apparently made by Gavin Waugh, Western Australian Division President and former National Secretary, in a member discussion forum and email circulated to … Continue reading “Abuse, egos, corporate governance and the safety profession”
The media on 11 March 2010 was reporting the discovery of a the body of a hotel worker in a beer cellar of a Victorian hotel. WorkSafe Victoria is investigating the possibility of carbon dioxide. As with so many cases of confined spaces, a second man was lucky to be alive after venturing into the … Continue reading “Gas, lungs, ladders, fruit picking and concrete pumping – latest workplace incidents”
In February 2010, the New York Times ran an article about depression by Jonah Lehrer. The same article appeared in some of Australia’s weekend newspapers in early March. Lehrer looks at the issue of depression and considers whether there is a potential upside to the disorder by looking back as far as Charles Darwin for … Continue reading “When looking to understand psychosocial issues, ask your grandparents”
In 2004, I was asked to make an OHS-themed presentation to a group of paramedic students on ethics and from a small business perspective. Some of the information may have dated slightly but I post this to stimulate discussion. Below is an edited version of that 2004 oral presentation: Quite often, when we have an … Continue reading “A discussion on ethics and OHS decision making”