When psychosocial hazards originate from poor management

There are still some OHS professionals who are uncomfortable with approaching workplace hazards that do not involve nip-points and energy-transfer.  In fact there are some who can’t cope with the industrial relations interplay with occupational health and safety. A major industrial relations problem ran for some time at Tristar Steering and Suspension.  The absurdity of this …

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A new perspective on trauma and its personal and social impacts

Our understanding of stress continues to evolve even though it seems to be splintering into mental health. mental illness, psychosocial harm, mental well-being and more. Recently Orla T. Muldoon of the University of Limerick published “The Social Psychology of Trauma- Connecting the Personal and the Political”. I dipped into this book and found some information pertinent …

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Useful psychosocial case study

Employers and health and safety professionals are desperate for case studies of companies that have successfully applied the recent occupational health and safety (OHS) emphasis on managing and preventing psychosocial hazards at work. Safe Work Australia has released a case study on this in the retail industry. “Managing the risk of psychosocial hazards in retail” …

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“How can I make my workers safer?”

Most of the Australian occupational health and safety (OHS) regulators have released their calendars of events for October.  There are many invaluable events, especially for those in small- to medium-sized businesses or who have been delegated as “responsible” for OHS in those companies. There are several special events and symposiums for those of working in … Continue reading ““How can I make my workers safer?””

HR is “evolving” but slowly

Human Resources (HR) is on a slow journey to fully understand the efforts and strategies for preventing workplace psychosocial hazards. This article from Phoebe Armstrong in HRMonthly is a good example. It will nudge HR readers in the right direction. Still, the article has many curiosities and a reticence to fully accept the legislative occupational …

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Peter Howard and Work-Related Suicide

Work-related suicide is the psychosocial equivalent of a physical workplace fatality. They represent failures of occupational health and safety (OHS) management and the presence of unsafe systems of work. Several years ago in Adelaide, Australia, a worker burned to death in his car outside the company’s premises. Work-related suicide after decades of bullying was the …

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The Human Resources changes required for mentally safe workplaces.

In a recent LinkedIn discussion Professor Johanna Macneil asked me how the Human Resources (HR) discipline should change to meet the “new” occupational health and safety (OHS) duties about psychosocial hazards. Below is my response:...

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