What does occupational health and safety (OHS) have to do with Industrial Relations? It depends on who you ask. I think it is integral, but many, such as the trade union movement, seem to call on OHS only when needed, and then in the shallowest of ways....
Australian occupational health and safety (OHS) is moving from a focus on interventions at the individual worker level to examination of the operational and managerial systems that may cause or encourage harm and incidents, especially in relation to psychological safety at work. Although a new book from the United States does not address OHS specifically, …
A recent radio forum on working from home reinforced the political motivation behind promoting it as a legal right and also highlighted the knowledge gaps we have about it. Occupational health and safety (OHS) was mentioned in the discussion, but its core significance was again downplayed....
One of the best summaries of burnout was an article in The Guardian on February 15 2026, written by Zing Tsjeng, titled “Facing meltdown? Over 75% of people suffer from burnout – here’s what you need to know” (paywalled). It has its flaws, but the selection of sources, including Christina Maslach, is impressive....
Harvard Business Review (HBR) is an active publisher of articles on business management. In 2024, it released a collection of essays on psychological safety as part of its Emotional Intelligence series. HBR’s psychological safety advice is written for a U.S. corporate audience. It largely ignores the legislative duties that shape psychosocial risk management in Australia, …
The issue of working in heat has resurfaced in some Australian media this February, again driven by trade unions. The union approach continues to show negotiating flaws, deflections, and at least one inaccuracy....
An open letter about workplace suicides was published to support World Mental Health Day in 2024. The research work of some of the signatories has continued and appeared in a 2026 editorial in Volume 46 of “Crisis – The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention“, calling for action. [This article, unavoidably, discusses suicide]...
