The Challenges of Future Workplaces – Part 1

This article is part one of an edited version of a keynote presentation I made at the a special WHS Inspectors Forum organised by WorkSafe Tasmania.  The audience comprised inspectors from around Australia and New Zealand.  I was asked to be provocative and challenging so posed some questions to the audience about how occupational health …

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The banks are having their culture changed for them and OHS needs to watch and learn

Occupational health and safety (OHS) is easy.  Change is hard.  OHS can identify  workplace hazards and risks but it is the employer or business owner or Person Conducting Business or Undertaking (PCBU) who needs to make the decision to change. All of this activity occurs within, and due to, the culture of each workplace and …

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It’s not about doing the least possible but about doing the best

It is almost impossible to underestimate the impact that Australia’s Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry is already having on the corporate cultures of Australian businesses.  The effective management of occupational health and safety (OHS) relies on effective consultation, trust and respect just as does any other element in a …

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Interview with Dr Gerry Ayers

This weekend is the International Workers Memorial Day.  In Victoria, in particular and in Australia more generally, it is highly likely that the issue of Industrial Manslaughter laws will be raised as part of a trade union campaign. Dr Gerry Ayers, the OHS&E Manager of one of the branches of the CFMEU, features in an … Continue reading “Interview with Dr Gerry Ayers”

Flogging the banks could help safety

Australia’s Royal Commission into banking and financial services is a few months in and the evidence provided of wrongdoing is so substantial that those who were critical of the need for such an investigation are admitting they were wrong. SafetyAtWorkBlog is applying the logic that occupational health and safety (OHS) succeeds best when it is …

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Downplaying “the source”

Recently on LinkedIn Audrey McGibbon wrote this about an online article discussing working hours in Europe: “Working excessively long hours is par for the course in many sectors. The reasons for it are complex. The culture created by the collective leadership shadow makes its presence felt in many ways.” I am not sure that the …

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History Lessons

The latest report/history of occupational health and safety (OHS) in Victoria and the role of the OHS regulators written by Barry Naismith was released last week. (Available HERE for a short time) There are few histories written, and those are primarily written through the legal and legislative prism. Naismith was an employee of the OHS …

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