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”
Earlier this year, SafetyAtWorkBlog reported on the attack on a nurse in the Torres Strait Islands north of Australia, the investigation of the issue by Queensland Health and the mechanisms introduced to get the working conditions and accommodation up to a safe level. In this case there was a clear link between occupational health and … Continue reading “Management failures and a rape of a five-month-old baby”
World COPD day was held on 17 November 2008. COPD Stands for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. As with many of these health-related days there is more hyperbole than substance and often the most relevant information appears after the hype has died down. This is the case with a report just released by the Occupational And Environmental Medicine. … Continue reading “Beware the OHS hype on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease”
Bernard Keane, political columnist with Crikey.com, wrote on 20 November 2008 about the unacceptable conduct of Australian politicians. He wrote: We’re not talking here about ordinary poor behaviour. There are boors and fools and thugs in workplaces across the country. It’s the sense of entitlement that seems to motivate many MPs to treat other people — … Continue reading “Sexual harassment and politicians”
At the risk of increasing a young person’s infamy, SafetyAtWorkBlog draws your attention to a (former) YouTube video of a young forklift driver misusing a forklift. According to a WorkSafe media release: Dangerous forklift driving has cost a young worker his job, his forklift licence and earned him 50 hours of community work and an … Continue reading “Dangerous Forklift Behaviour”
The 11 November 2008 edition of The Australian includes a page 2 story where the previous manager of the Beaconsfield Mine has been called on to be held responsible for the management failures that led to the death of Larry Knight in 2006. The call was made by counsel for Larry Knight’s family and the … Continue reading “Mining fatalities and accountability”
Several colleagues have pointed to a young worker safety website that was established in Canada several years ago, http://www.notworthit.ca/ . The site, part of the WCB’s Young Worker campaign, won an award from American Association of State Compensation Insurance Funds in their annual Communications Awards in 2007. There are remarkable similarities to The Pain Factory, even … Continue reading “Young Worker Safety – Part 3”