The Victorian Government has concluded the public hearing section of its inquiry into Labour Hire. Industrial Relations Minister Natalie Hutchins has said in a media release that “Evidence has been put to the inquiry suggesting widespread underpayment of award wages, tax avoidance, nonpayment of superannuation, poor occupational health and safety practices, maltreatment of workers and backpackers on …
The Safety Institute of Australia (SIA) continues to rebuild its reputation and its credibility. In February 2016 it released a draft Strategic Planning Framework and is seeking public comment. (Consultation closes on March 25) A major difference in this approach is that the SIA is encouraging this draft plan to be distributed widely, outside of the SIA’s membership … Continue reading “If you build it, they will come”
The International Network of Safety & Health Practitioner Organisations (INSHPO) has launched the “The OHS Professional Capability Framework – A Global Framework for Practice“. The document reflects many of the issues raised in recently published research on occupational health and safety (OHS) professionalism, accreditation and certification. However there are a couple of useful issues to note, … Continue reading “OHS Professionals get, or want, global attention”
An online version of Safety Science includes an article by Gunther Paul and Warwick Pearse who discuss “An international benchmark for the Australian OHS Body of Knowledge” (paywalled). Paul and Pearse have been critical of the emphasis given the OHS Body of Knowledge (OHS BoK) in the the accreditation processes of Australian OHS professionals and …
All conference delegates want to hear cutting-edge, radical or step-change solutions or strategies but what happens when the conference speakers are reinforcing what you already know? That is the situation facing the delegates of the Safety Institute of Australia’s (SIA) National Convention. On the first day of the conference, local and international speakers have suggested … Continue reading “The rebuilding of OHS conferences”
The Institute for Safety, Compensation and Recovery Research (ISCRR) has tried a new format for its occupational health and safety (OHS) seminars. It is not a lunch with a single presenter and it is not a Three-Minute Thesis. It is five safety researchers in one hour, seven minutes per person and a single question from … Continue reading “5 experts in 60 minutes”
The attention given to the recent draft report of the Productivity Commission’s (PC) inquiry into the Workplace Relations Framework has largely died down due to the dismissal of the report by Prime Minister, Tony Abbott. The industrial relations (IR) elements of the report generally failed to fit the Government’s IR narrative but this did not …