The debate on the risks of using glyphosate products to control weeds continues to ripple around the world largely sparked by the global penetration of media reports from the United States. It is important to look at the risks without the unique litigation climate in the United States. A recent Australian report by SBS television …
One of the major influencers on occupational health and safety (OHS) management in Australian has been Andrew Hopkins. His influence comes from a combination of being outside the formal OHS profession and establishing a platform that is inclusive of information from a range of sources. In short he is a sociologist. Hopkins’ latest book has …
Occupational health and safety (OHS) related decisions are made on the state of knowledge about hazards and it is up to OHS people to make sure the state of knowledge is at its best so that the best decisions can be made. But what do you do if the state of knowledge on a hazard …
The Cancer Council of Western Australia has released a report (not yet available online)that states: “The number of occupationally caused cancers compensated each year equates to less than eight per cent of the expected number.” (Executive Summary) This is an extraordinary statistic but consistent with the history of occupational health and safety (OHS) statistics where … Continue reading “Cancer data needs to start a discussion on effective controls”
Professor Michael Quinlan has a new book that focuses on lessons from recent mining disasters but, as with the best of occupational health and safety (OHS) books, it challenges orthodoxies. Some OHS consultants and experts have built careers on these orthodoxies, trends and fads, and will feel uncomfortable with the evidence put forward by Quinlan …
Nanotechnology research papers are often very technical and highly unlikely to discuss the occupational health and safety impacts of the technology’s use. The papers often rely on someone else to explain the relevance of the research. But on 24 November 2009, Dr Fern Wickson of the University of Bergen spoke in Brisbane about nanotechnology challenges and released … Continue reading “New Australian discussion paper on nanotechnology”
In October 2008, SafetyAtWorkBlog spoke with Renata Musolino of the Victorian Trades Hall Council. At that time the trade union movement was finalising its policies and positions on nanotechnology into the campaign that is being rolled out at the moment. In the SafetyAtWork podcast released in April 2009, Renata talks about how nanotechnologies links with mesothelioma … Continue reading “Trade unionist talks about nanotechnology risks”