On 4 January 2009, the Sunday Age contained a curious article based around some quotes from Eric Windholz, acting executive director of WorkSafe Victoria. The article reports Eric as saying that when workers return to work after a holiday break they can be careless. “People come back, they’ve taken their mind off the job, they’ve had … Continue reading “Managing Safety After A Vacation”
The Christmas ad campaign by WorkSafe Victoria is now available for viewing on line. I saw it with my family for the first time last night on television and it had a terrific impact on my wife. The hug from the teenage daughter is the clincher. My teenage son had seen the ad previously and thought … Continue reading “Latest WorkSafe ad – now online”
WorkSafe Victoria is marketing well by tweaking their OHS advertising messages to fit the economic or seasonal requirements of workers and workplaces. In mid-December 2008, the “Homecoming” ads have been updated to provide a more obvious link to people working during the holiday season. John Merritt, CEO of WorkSafe, tries to link their two ongoing … Continue reading “OHS advertising”
It is relatively easy to manage a workplace in an urban environment. The buildings stay in one place, the neighbours are almost always the same and the weather bureau provides plenty of warnings. But in isolated areas, particularly in Australia, it seems the work environment is often more exposed. Certainly this was the case in … Continue reading “Deaths in isolated work camp from tropical storm”
Over the next few weeks, many Australian law firms are running information seminars on the government’s Fair Work Bill. This legislation will change the way that workplaces are managed, particularly in the area of personnel management. The overlap with OHS will come through the increasingly contentious issue of “union right of entry”. Frequently unions request … Continue reading “OHS impact of the Fair Work Australia Bill”
WorkSafe Victoria recently released a guideline, or clarification, on what it considers to be the issues surrounding “employing or engaging suitably qualified persons to provide health and safety advice“. SafetyAtWorkBlog remains to be convinced that such a process will lead to better safety outcomes in the small to medium-sized enterprises at which this program is … Continue reading “The insidiousness of “reasonably practicable””
The Western Australian government has released its latest statistics on workplace fatalities. The good thing, if there can be such a thing, is that the statistics are over ten years which is longer than most reporting and provide a promising trendline. As the report states “The data used to produce this report differs from reports … Continue reading “New Western Australian Workplace Fatality Data”