Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is on a pathway to an election. On March 21 2016, the Prime Minister wrote to the Governor-General to continue a convoluted process sparked by the Senate’s refusal to pass laws that will allow the reintroduction of the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC). One of the justifications for the need … Continue reading “Australia’s ABCC argument is not about safety”
Occupational health and safety (OHS) returned to the Australian Parliamentary debates last week. Politicians of all persuasions mentioned the importance of workplace safety on Australian construction sites. The differences in opinions were whether the re-establishment of the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) would improve OHS performance or impede it....
In January 2015, this blog said of Australia’s Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption (TURC): “Workplace safety has not been the focus of this Royal Commission but it is one of its victims”. The Royal Commission’s final report was released on 30 December 2015, and it is time to look at the mentions …
Australia’s Productivity Commission (PC) has released its final report into the Workplace Relations Framework. Almost all media discussion has been about potential changes to penalty rates but, as mentioned in an earlier blog post, workplace bullying is part of the inquiry’s terms of reference, submissions were sought on this and the final report identifies one …
Zero Harm was an enormously popular motivational aim for OHS. It originated as a response in some large organisations where safety performance was plateauing and who felt that they had achieved as much as they could in redesigning work and improving physical safety. The plateauing led to frustration and a reassessment of safety practices. The remaining variable …
Statistics released in Australia this week show a continuing decline in trade union membership. This has generated some reaction from the union movement but also some suggestions for the future. Trade unions are an integral element of occupational health and safety (OHS) policy setting. Whether the union movement should continue to be part of the tripartite … Continue reading “Union numbers continue to fall but OHS influence should not”
Whether one believes that the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption is a political witch-hunt or a genuine attempt to clean up a corrupt industry sector, the Royal Commission seems to have revealed an abuse and exploitation of occupational health and safety (OHS) – an exploitation that has received next to no attention. …