In Australia there are safety magazines and then there are safety magazines but which are the publications that are obligatory reading for safety professionals and practitioners? National Safety magazine, published on behalf of the National Safety Council of Australia (NSCA), has been the safety magazine of choice in Australia for many years. It has developed a degree of authority in … Continue reading “Safety magazines in Australia”
“…OHS is not fit for the 21st century. It is isolated, has a limited academic base and remit, uneven provision, lack of good quality data, a poor image and is perceived by many as the servant of the employer.” Professor Niki Ellis speaks frankly about the OHS discipline in Australia. Professor Niki Ellis recently was appointed the … Continue reading “Professor Niki Ellis hits out at the state of OHS in Australia”
Day 2 of the Safety In Action Conference is almost over and I am confused. Some speakers say that safety cannot be improved without commitment from the most senior executives of a company. Others are saying that safety improvement can be best achieved by trusting employees. One speaker questioned the validity of the risk management approach to safety. A colleague argued … Continue reading “Australian safety conference – confused but in a good way”
New survey data on business attitudes to safety was revealed at the Safety In Action Conference on 20 April 2010. The data was released jointly by the Australian Institute of Management and the Safety Institute of Australia (SIA). In short there was not much that was new in the survey data but the survey was important for several reasons.
Two interesting and useful OHS publications have been released in Australia. The West Australian Division of the Safety Institute of Australia has published its Australian Safety Matters magazine. It is freely downloadable and available HERE. The second is a publication from Workplace Standards Tasmania and relates particularly to OHS issues related to the electrical, gas, plumbing and … Continue reading “Two new free OHS magazines from Australia”
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”
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”