The mass media is full of reports on legal action being taken on behalf of shareholders in BP over the continuing oil spill from the former Deepwater oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. An Australian video report was broadcast on 25 May 2010 and a composite article has appeared in The Australian on 26 May 2010 as well … Continue reading ““We will trust but we will verify” – upcoming lessons from the Gulf of Mexico”
The question in the title of this article came about from the release of a fabulous new book by LexisNexis- Butterworths – Australian Labour Law – Text, Cases & Commentary, 5th edition. Through my introductory look at the book, it seems that occupational health and safety gets around half a page in a book of over 1200 … Continue reading “Is OHS part of Labour Law?”
At the recent Safety In Action Conference in Melbourne, Sia Evans was scheduled to speak about integrating safety into Lean/Six Sigma. The management processes were known to me but I had not associated them with OHS management so her blending of the two was intriguing. I arranged an interview with Sia a couple of weeks prior to her presentation having met her briefly some … Continue reading “Integrating safety in Lean/Six Sigma”
An earlier article today provided a reminder of a County Court judge’s criticism of OHS management-speak in a 2004 decision concerning the death of Robert Sergi on a rail bridge construction project near Geelong. In response to some of the safety initiatives outlined to the Court by the lawyer for Leighton Contractors Ross Ray SC, … Continue reading “OHS needs plain language, consultation and corporate engagement”
The New York Times reported on 17 May 2010 that psychologists have started considering the causes of workplace stress. About time! The report says that “Employees are unhappy about the design of their jobs, the health of their organizations and the quality of their managers..” and that unhappy workers have a high risk of heart attacks and depression. … Continue reading “Looking for the causes of workplace harm can change one’s world view”
SafeWorkSA has released details of a successful OHS prosecution concerning forklifts, yet again. But the full judgement has more management information than is usual and deserves to be read in full. The circumstances, according to a media release (not yet available online) are “…an incident… in August 2007 in which a 56 year old delivery driver tripped over the tines of a … Continue reading “Lack of separation of pedestrians and forklifts results in $A24k fine”
A curious workplace safety and industrial relations issue has appeared in the Golden Circle factory in Queensland as reported in the Courier-Mail. 57-year-old forklift driver, Lance Pedersen has been sacked because he was found to be morbidly obese and with osteoarthritis in his knees. The newspaper article raises many personnel management issues and there are sure to be more issues that … Continue reading “Eliminate the safety risk – sack the worker”