Search Results for: "prevention of harm"

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OHS solutions promoted but not necessarily delivered

All professions need spokespeople or champions who can provide informative and, hopefully, authoritative commentary on topical matters within and beyond the profession.  Australia’s safety profession has never had such a spokesperson but recently the speakers’ bureau ICMI has packaged a selection of speakers who it thinks could be appropriate. The brief for Work Health Solutions focuses almost … Continue reading “OHS solutions promoted but not necessarily delivered”

Sex, work, liability and safety

There is a constant tension between occupational health and safety (OHS) and workers compensation. OHS is intended to prevent harm and workers compensation is available for when harm cannot be, or has not been, prevented.  In Australia, these two elements of safety are administered by different organisations under different legislation but it is a distinction … Continue reading “Sex, work, liability and safety”

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”

“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”

New campaign indicates old-school thinking

Today WorkSafe Victoria launches a new return-to-work campaign which will use Paralympian Jack Swift as the “face” of the campaign.  The campaign is sure to be successful but the increasing focus of safety regulators on return-to-work (RTW)  may illustrate a growing trend where rehabilitation policy strategies are gaining priority over injury prevention. Yet innovative approaches to injury prevention provide … Continue reading “New campaign indicates old-school thinking”

Evidence exists of productivity benefits of OHS but no one is using it

A lot of recent discussion of the impacts of workplace safety and productivity has centred on the Productivity Commission’s “Performance Benchmarking of Australian Business Regulation: Occupational Health & Safety” Report of 2010. However there was a 1995 report by the then-Industry Commission that can provide some broader context to the safety/productivity discussion. Recent evidence and … Continue reading “Evidence exists of productivity benefits of OHS but no one is using it”

Why all the arguing over a workplace bullying definition?

There have been many calls in Australia for a national definition of workplace bullying.  Apparently the definition below that has applied in OHS legislation for over ten years in Victoria is insufficient: “Repeated unreasonable behaviour directed toward a worker or group of workers that creates a risk to health and safety.” The definition above was the one used … Continue reading “Why all the arguing over a workplace bullying definition?”