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Serious questions raised over the role of Safe Work Method Statements

Any safety conference involving the Australian construction industry will have some discussion on Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS) and this weekend’s Building Safety conference was no different. During the presentation on Saturday by the Federal Safety Commissioners, SWMS was bubbling along underneath many of his words and statements. Sadly, the audience (now) seems to have … Continue reading “Serious questions raised over the role of Safe Work Method Statements”

Rita Donahy speaks at Australia’s Building Safety conference

The first international speaker at this weekend’s Building Safety conference in Canberra, Australia was Rita Donahy, author of the One Death Is Too Many report into the UK’s construction industry safety performance, and a member of the House of Lords. Donahy stressed that workplace safety is, and should be, a social issue and not treated … Continue reading “Rita Donahy speaks at Australia’s Building Safety conference”

Supreme Court decision limits public knowledge of OHS offences

In May 2013 Fiona Austin (@upfrontfi) a lawyer with the Australian law firm, Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF), tweeted: “Great win in the Supreme Court! No more naming and shaming for health and safety offenders in Queensland” The Supreme Court decision is an appalling situation over which OHS professionals and regulators should be outraged. Austin and other HSF … Continue reading “Supreme Court decision limits public knowledge of OHS offences”

Six years jail for injury reporting fraud

“If it can’t be measured, it can’t be managed”* has been a mantra of business for decades but all measurement can be corrupted.  One of the most contentious elements of occupational health and safety (OHS)  is the measurement of safety performance and a recent prosecution in the United States provides an important lesson for OHS managers … Continue reading “Six years jail for injury reporting fraud”

Fall prevention in Australia needs a major overhaul

Below is a guest post from long time SafetyAtWorkBlog reader, Marian Macdonald. “If you need to use that, you’ll almost certainly die,” says fall prevention expert Carl Sachs, pointing to a guardrail on the rooftop of a multi-storey Melbourne office block. Fixed to flimsy aluminium flashing, the guardrail flies in the face of several mandatory … Continue reading “Fall prevention in Australia needs a major overhaul”

“Safety” deserves to be supported not replaced or rephrased

SafetyAtWorkBlog has written previously that the term “safety” seems to have fallen out of favour with some preferring terms such as “zero harm”. In November 2012 I wrote: “In some ways, “safety” has become an ineffective term, even a negative term in some areas. It is understandable that some companies and safety professionals would wish … Continue reading ““Safety” deserves to be supported not replaced or rephrased”

OHS would benefit from a historical perspective on workplace bullying

Every year, around this time, the mainstream media reports on the findings of employee surveys of the Victorian public service. Each year the statistics on workplace bullying are featured.  (The Age newspaper reported on the latest survey on 31 March 2013.)  But the approach to an understanding of workplace bullying has changed over the last … Continue reading “OHS would benefit from a historical perspective on workplace bullying”