In May 2011, the Australian Government announced the development of a National Worker’s Memorial. The winning design, selected by an independent jury from a competitive pool of 26 entries, was announced in Canberra this evening. Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten announced that Architects Johnson Pilton Walker have been awarded the task. In a media statement Shorten … Continue reading “New Workers’ Memorial announced for Australia”
Safe Work Australia has released two important statistical reports. One concerns the number of Work-Related Traumatic Injury Fatalities for 2009-10 and the other is called The Cost of Work-Related injury and Illness for Australian Employers, Workers and the Community: 2008-09 . These reports have gained minimal mainstream media coverage. In a very short article The Australian … Continue reading “The Australian newspaper dismisses workplace deaths as “sickies””
On 4 November 2011, Victoria’s 7.30 program broadcast a heart-rending story about the suicide of a woman who, her mother believes, took this action after suffering chronic pain due a work-related incident and being given insufficient support from her employer and workers’ compensation bodies. The story of Rebecca Wallis (spelling uncertain) apparently generated sufficient communication to the … Continue reading “Work-related suicide gains some fresh media recognition”
The UK government’s Health & Safety Executive is continuously countering poor decisions of local government that are being “blamed” on health and safety. Recently the Wimbledon tennis open joined the club of misrepresenting risk decisions as health and safety. England has a unique tabloid journalism that has generated substantial confusion on the role and application of … Continue reading “Government must restructure to address the evolution of OHS”
In 2009, France Telecom’s management practices came to global attention as a result of a spate of over 20 suicides that were identified as work-related. On 6 June 2011, France Telecom released its Corporate Responsibility Report that covers the period of the management turmoil touched upon in earlier SafetyAtWorkBlog articles. The document is an impressive … Continue reading “France Telecome’s CSR report is telling but sets high expectations”
The CEO of South Australia’s WorkCover Corporation, Rob Thomson, has participated in a long interview with the online newspaper inDaily on 1 June 2011. In the article Thomson addresses many of the recent criticisms of his organisation and the sole WorkCover agent, Employers Mutual Limited, but a telling OHS comment occurs in the last couple … Continue reading “The best workers’ compensation option is prevention.”
WorkSafe Victoria has reported that of seven recent work-related fatalities, three have occurred in regional areas on farms. The most recent death was misreported as involving a quad bike. In a media release issued on 10 May 2011, WorkSafe’s Ian Forsythe said, “Safety’s not just about what WorkSafe does. It’s about employers, workers and the … Continue reading “Farm deaths require radical approach”