The Victorian Government has released the PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC) assessment of the potential economic impacts of the introduction of the national Work Health and safety laws. The government media statement accompanying the report states that “The proposed laws do not deliver on the intent of the COAG reform agreed to in 2008 which aimed to reduce the … Continue reading “Victoria’s analysis of OHS law costs is unhelpful politics”
In The Australian newspaper on 3 April 2012, Judith Sloan presents a useful summary of the status of the OHS harmonisation process. Many of her criticisms are valid but she has not realised that the new Work Health and Safety laws stopped being occupational health and safety laws some time ago. It is easier to … Continue reading “Is OHS harmonisation a dead parrot or is it just pining?”
Over the last 12 months, SafetyAtWorkBlog has received many unsolicited “guest posts” and almost all of these include links back to commercial sites that have some relationship to the author. I consider this advertising and reject the posts. However the writers and, sometime, public relations agencies could be coming cleverer. The following article is not about workplace safety per se … Continue reading “What is behind guest blog articles?”
In relation to the new harmonised laws in Australia Amy Towers recently stated in a media release that “Many employers still haven’t got it quite right. While most have an understanding of their new health and safety responsibilities, we’re finding the practices they do have in place don’t sufficiently meet the new compliance requirements – … Continue reading “Inductions, technology and effectiveness”
“I have a really bad feeling about this“ In Star Wars, Han Solo and other major characters express their gut feeling about various situations. In traditional risk management parlance, that “gut feeling” would equate to subjectivity, an element of decision-making that needs to be minimised in risk management if not eliminated. This has been sought through various … Continue reading “Han Solo – Risk Manager”
Australian lawyer Michael Tooma is mentioned regularly in the SafetyAtWorkBlog, mostly because Tooma is one of the few who consider workplace safety in the broader social context. In The Australian newspaper on 10 February 2012 Tooma wrote that new work health and safety laws being introduced in Australia present “…a march … into the traditional heartland of the public … Continue reading “The social context of OHS laws is being poorly handled”
England’s Prime Minister, David Cameron, has described OHS as a “monster” in a speech to small business owners on 5 January 2012. It is important to note the PM’s comments prior to his monster reference that have not been repeated in the mainstream press. He refers to “… a great big machine of health and … Continue reading “UK’s approach to OHS reform is flawed by short-term political strategy”