All through the Presidency of George W Bush, safety professionals have been critical of the lack of action on workplace safety. As with many issues related to a new Democrat President in Barack Obama, organisations are beginning to publish their wishlists. The latest is the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM). On 9 … Continue reading “Workplace health initiatives in unstable economic times”
WorkSafe Victoria recently released a guideline, or clarification, on what it considers to be the issues surrounding “employing or engaging suitably qualified persons to provide health and safety advice“. SafetyAtWorkBlog remains to be convinced that such a process will lead to better safety outcomes in the small to medium-sized enterprises at which this program is … Continue reading “The insidiousness of “reasonably practicable””
Some old-time safety professionals are struggling with the inclusion of psychosocial hazards in their safety management programs. Some deny the relevance of sexual harassment to their duties and hope that the issue can be contained within the human resources department, the “dark arts” of workplace safety. Many of these same safety professionals are calling for … Continue reading “Sexual harassment and occupational health and safety”
The growth of attention to psychosocial hazards in Australia received a considerable boost from a stress survey undertaken by the ACTU some years ago. During the survey of union-members, it became clear that bullying was a major generator and perpetrator of workplace stress. The unions went to town on this data and set the agenda for some time in OHS. … Continue reading “Bullying, duty of care and compensation”
There are some in the safety profession who question whether OHS practitioners have the right to describe ourselves as professionals. Comparisons have been made to the medical profession where one is either a doctor or not, a nurse or not, a medical practitioner or not. This is an unfair comparison as the medical profession has … Continue reading “Is OHS a profession?”
Australian OHS authorities have been struggling for many years to address issues of fatigue in the workplace. Partly this has been because the issue of stress and bullying came to dominate the psycho-social agenda. The transport industry has pushed fatigue into the unavoidable hazard basket. New South Wales’ experience with this issue has been particularly … Continue reading “New Guidance on Preventing Fatigue”
I have undertaken work for companies that promote wellness and good health in workplaces. The companies provide health assessments for various conditions, health advice, fitness services and assessments, and a redesigned staff canteen for healthier food. All of these initiatives are worthwhile but have not been embraced by the wider workplace safety sector....