Work Health and Safety Queensland (WHSQ) recently revealed some early research into the Return on Investment (ROI) of occupational health and safety (OHS) controls. (Thanks to a reader for pointing it out) According to its website: “Recent pilot research in several Queensland organisations found clear evidence of the cost effectiveness of safety interventions, including: an automatic shrink …
Recently, Ernst Young released a discussion paper about the risks of mental health in the workplace. Mental health is a very popular topic at the moment and there are thousands of service providers in this sector. During the recent National Mental Health Week, statistics on the costs associated with mental health provided by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) seemed to be …
Testing for drug and alcohol effects in workplaces sounds sensible but what do you do when there is no evidence that it improves worker safety or reduces risk? Apparently ignore the evidence, create industrial tension and impose unnecessary costs on industry. The Australian national government and the Victorian (State) government have both pledged to introduce …
A coronial finding in Queensland in September 2015 illustrates how daily activities can lead to tragedy but also the role of safety culture. According to one media report, in investigating the 2009 death of 24-year-old Cameron Cole who was hit as a pipe rack fell from a truck, the Queensland Coroner, Terry Ryan, found that …
2015 has been a big year for public attention on the exploitation of workers. In May, the Four Corners program revealed the exploitation of, largely, migrant or illegal workers in the food processing and vegetable growing sectors. In the last month, 7Eleven workers have featured, also after a Four Corners investigation in conjunction with Fairfax …
Since the release of the 2015 Citi report into the occupational health and safety (OHS) performance of the companies in the ASX200 stick exchange rankings, this blog has received many requests for a copy of the report to assist in the benchmarking of performance. Clearly performance indicators for OHS remain contentious and difficult but this … Continue reading “National OHS performance indicators needed”
In some of his research into the operations of WorkSafe Victoria, OHSIntros provided this graph of workers compensation claims for psychosocial issues. Not only does it show the extent of the issue in recent years, it provides a clear historic starting point for the hazard – a hazard that has created an industry of its …