Innes Willox of the Australian Industry Group is a well-established figure in Australia’s political and industrial landscape. As such he was a good choice to be the first speaker at a small safety conference in Melbourne Australia. The best speakers about workplace safety are often those who do not speak about safety but those who …
I have written before about the use of Broken Windows theory in an occupational health and safety context. Earlier this year another OHS professional, Bryan McWhorter, wrote about his success in following this approach. One advantage of talking about this theory is that it applies a concept from outside the OHS field to affect worker … Continue reading “Broken Windows seems to work”
The latest in our series of profiles on researchers who are involved with occupational health and safety research is Dr Tim White. He holds the degrees of Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) and Doctor of Philosophy from the University of New South Wales (UNSW). His most recent appointment was as Lecturer and Researcher in Mechanical Design at UNSW. After …
On 10 June 2016, the New South Wales Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation Victor Dominello announced a $A2 million rebate program to improve safety associated with the use of quad bikes on farms. According the media release (curiously released late on the eve of a national long weekend): “The NSW Government will be offering rebates … Continue reading “NSW Gov’t announces first quad bike safety rebate program”
Australian occupational health and safety (OHS) professional, Paul Breslin, is continuing his research into the use and application of the Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) in the construction industry. His latest paper, recently published in the Journal of Health, Safety and Environment (subscription only) asks an important question: “If administrative controls are one of the …
The Victorian commemoration of International Workers Memorial Day has held on28 April 2015 and was a major improvement on previous memorials. The politics was muted by the speakers. There was no tray truck of angry unionists yelling through tannoys and heading off half way through the event to a protest rally that they see as … Continue reading “Dignity and solemnity at Workers’ Memorial Day”
A common theme throughout presentations at the Safety Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur was the need to communicate safety and health clearly and concisely to variety of nationalities with a variety of literacy levels. My presentation aimed at reminding the OHS professional delegates that they may already have skills that they could use in communicating … Continue reading “Dead Men Tell No Tales – Safety Storytelling”