Keyword Search – an essential tool

One of the most useful tools on any website is a Search function.  When writing a SafetyAtWorkBlog article I regularly use the Search function (on the right of this page, or the bottom of your screen, depending on what device you are using) to remind me of what I have written previously.  This avoids doubling up on topics or perspectives but also provides a thematic thread and consistency through the articles. For instance, try “quad bikes”, SWMS, Tooma or Quinlan.

This Search function is a search of all the text in all of the thousands of articles in SafetyAtWorkBlog and is available to everyone, although Subscribers get the most value.

I find the function is also useful for searching for names of people mentioned or quoted in the articles.  This allows me to link people in new articles to their appearance in earlier articles.

I love libraries for the amount of knowledge they contain, but the best libraries are those that also provide easy access to that knowledge.  This is one of the beauties of the Internet and of Keyword Searches on websites.

In the New Year, I am hoping to upgrade the Search functions on the website and would welcome readers’ and subscribers’ suggestions for improvement.

Kevin Jones

Action demanded on sexual harassment in the entertainment industry

On 12 December 2017, part of Australia’s screen and television industry held a forum in Sydney about sexual harassment in the sector and what could be done to reduce this workplace hazard. This initiative occurred a day before an open letter was published about sexual harassment in the music industry.  There is a momentum for change on sexual harassment in the workplace, but it is at risk of resulting in a fragmented approach which will generate turf wars, confusion and, ultimately, ineffectiveness.

The

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Subscribe Help
Already a member? Log in here

Suicide and OHS media campaigns should achieve tangible outcomes

Don’t jump rock cliff at Sydney, Australia

The benefits of advertising are notoriously difficult to quantify unless there is a specific product being promoted.  Advertising about occupational health and safety (OHS) is usually measured in the level of awareness of the viewers with questions such as

  • Are you aware of WorkSafe?
  • What does WorkSafe do?
  • When we mention WorkSafe to you, what do you think of?

But as with wellbeing initiatives, awareness does not always, some would say rarely, generate action; and action that affects real change.

Recently several Australian researchers looked at some of the existing studies around media campaigns on the prevention of

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Subscribe Help
Already a member? Log in here

Workplace safety in correctional facilities

In support of the recent SafetyAtWorkBlog article “Detention Royal Commission touches on workplace safety”, WorkSafe NT was contacted with a series of questions about the role of the Northern Territory’s occupational health and safety (OHS) regulator in detention centres.  Those questions comprised:

• Has WorkSafe ever undertaken any inspection activities at detention centres in the Northern Territory?  If so, what was there a specific request, incident or other catalyst for this?
• Is there a specific group/team of inspectors under whom responsibility for inspecting detention centres would sit?
• Does NTWorkSafe coordinate any WHS inspection activities with other government agencies and authorities?
• Has the Northern Territory Correctional Services ever requested NTWorkSafe’s assistance in safety reviews of their facilities?

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Subscribe Help
Already a member? Log in here

OHS could benefit from this Innovation report

Australia’s Office of the Chief Economist released a report on December 6 2017 whose relevance to occupational health and safety (OHS) is not immediately apparent but contributes to understanding the context of OHS in modern business processes.

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Subscribe Help
Already a member? Log in here

Peer benchmarking offers opportunities

Workplace safety lawyers are regular contributors to occupational health and safety (OHS) journals, usually writing about some OHS case law or recent, topical prosecution.  Occasionally they write a more research-based article.  The November 2017 edition of

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog to continue reading.
Subscribe Help
Already a member? Log in here

Banking Royal Commission should not limit our thinking about culture

Australia is to have a Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.  What’s this to do with occupational health and safety (OHS)? Not a lot, at first blush.  OHS professionals and safety practitioners need to watch this Royal Commission because it could led to a fundamental reassessment of corporate culture. The OHS discipline is beginning to understand that it operates within that organisational, or corporate, culture; the same culture that will be examined over the next twelve to eighteen months.

SafetyAtWorkBlog has written repeatedly on safety culture and the potential OHS changes from investigating the corporate culture of banks.  An analysis of corporate culture inevitably includes discussions of due diligence, corporate governance, leadership, accountability and ethics – all elements that are critical to understanding and building safe systems of work. Continue reading “Banking Royal Commission should not limit our thinking about culture”