On 14 September 2009, the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) released a series of radio advertisements that call on the government to not reduce the occupational health and safety conditions of Australian workers. An article about the ads with interviews with the major political players is available on ABC Radio for a short time. … Continue reading “Union opposition to Australia’s OHS laws – new radio campaign”
The Australian newspaper of 1 September 2009 epitomised the ideological problems with OHS in a business management context. Page 5 has two articles next to each other: “Renewed pledge to cut business regulation” and “Building chief ‘spat on an abused‘”. The first article reports on a speech by the Competition Minister, Craig Emerson, where it … Continue reading “In Australia OHS management is red tape”
Julia Gillard, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Workplace Relations, received a dorothy-dix question on 16 October 2008 (pages 52-53) concerning OHS harmonisation and the creation of SafeWork Australia. Sadly, the good points the Minister made were overshadowed by political point-scoring at the Opposition Leader, Malcolm Turnbull. It is still early days for the Labor Government … Continue reading “Federal IR Minister speaks on OHS laws”
Workplace bullying is a possibility in all workplaces but more so in the blue collar construction industry than elsewhere, it seems. The front page report in The Australian confirms the blue-collar bully stereotype that the former conservative government tried to gain political mileage from, most noticeably in political advertising, but also in political rhetoric over … Continue reading “Construction industry bullies”
As part of the COAG meeting in early July 2008 the Ausralain governments have signed an Inter-Governmental Agreement for Regulatory and Operational Reform in Occupational Health and Safety. For those of you interested in how the replacement body for the Australian Safety & Compensation Council will operate and be funded, this is the blueprint. However, … Continue reading “Likely Process of State OHS Legislation”