At the end of March 2009, the Safety Institute of Australia (Victoria Division) is conducting its annual Safety In Action conference. In order to help promote the conference the SIA organised for several conference speakers to be filmed. The filming occurred in early-February 2009 and the short 10-minutevideos will be available at the Safety In … Continue reading “Upcoming OHS Videos”
There are two reports of concern in the next edition of the journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. One (Cancer risks in chemical production workers exposed to 2-mercaptobenzothiazole – Online First Occup Environ Med 2009; 10.1136/oem.2008.041400) raises the increasing likelihood that 2-mercaptobenzothiazole, or MBT, could be carcinogenic. The article reports on a study of workers in … Continue reading “New potential carcinogen and occupational asthma”
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has commented on an article in the Medical Journal of Australia (MJA) entitled “The incidence of race-day jockey falls in Australia, 2002-2006”. The AMA summarises the report’s statistics “Falls occurred at a rate of 0.42% in flat racing and 5.26% in jumps racing. Although most falls occurred pre- or post-race, falls … Continue reading “Evidence of horse racing risks”
WorkSafe Victoria has had considerable advertising success by focusing on the social impact of workplace injuries and death. In the newspapers and television over Christmas 2008, WorkSafe ads, like the billboard above, were on high rotation but, after the high number of workplace fatalities in January 2009, the strategy must be needing a review. In … Continue reading “Safety promotion needs backup”
On 11 January 2009, John Read posted an article on office design. The first paragraph is below: “Paying attention to office design and building maintenance are imperative parts to doing business that many company owners ignore. The layout of office interiors can have a deep consequence on the disposition and productivity of staff members and … Continue reading “Office design hype risks”
Every year newspapers and organisations undertake a “year in review”. OHS regulators are no different. As more statistics become available of the next few weeks, SafetyAtWorkBlog will provide the latest OHS statistics for 2008. The most recent are below. Western Australia According to a media release by WorkSafe WA: “In 2005/06, WA recorded 12 traumatic … Continue reading “Australian 2008 workplace statistics”
Work tools, such as the company car and the mobile phone, can be fun and functional but when used at the same time, the combination is deadly. According to media reports a study by the Federal Department of Transport survey of 1500 drivers has shown that [in Victoria] about 61 per cent said they had used a … Continue reading “Mobile Phones and Driving”