The 2018 Comcare conference currently happening in Melbourne Australia is a mixed bag, perhaps as conferences should be. There is a mix of useful information and perspectives but this has also led to mixed messages. David Thodey admitted that he was not really going to talk about work! His presentation looked at global issues, population …
Dr Rebecca Michalak has just published an extraordinary article calling on the Human Resources profession and many others to take a good, hard look at how they treat workers who may have been subjected to psychological pressures at work. Human Resources personnel could feel particularly hard done by but Michalak stresses that there are many …
Day One of the Australian Council of Trade Unions’ Congress was memorable for a couple of reasons. The appointment of Michele O’Neil, pictured right, as the President was a notable achievement, one made more memorable as she denied any desire to move onto a political appointment. The other memorable event was a string of shopfloor …
Barry Naismith of OHSIntros has released his latest independent research report into the status of occupational health and safety (OHS) in Victoria. (Given the inquiry into SafeWorkSA currently occurring in South Australia, I wish that State had an equivalent researcher, for context.) Naismith focusses on WorkSafe Victoria’s aim to address the issue of workplace wellness …
Victoria has passed legislation to licence the labour hire industry. Occupational health and safety (OHS) gets a mention, in some ways. The objects of this Act seem fairly straightforward: ” to protect workers from being exploited by providers of labour hire services and hosts; and to improve the transparency” The explanatory memorandum sounds promising. Clause 23 …
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) has released a very good report about Australia’s immigration detention centres which includes a long discussion on duty of care to detainees under Common Law. The report, “In Poor Health: Health care in Australian immigration detention” does not include any discussion on the duty of care under work health …
Dr Rebecca Michalak has only recently come to my attention, mainly through challenging some of my statements on social media. I was able to meet her and watch her presentation at the Safety Institute of Australia’s National Health and Safety Conference in May 2018. It is likely her voice will become heard more broadly in …