Occupational Health and Safety in Australia is invariably related to the role of the trade union movement. OHS legislation legislates a presence for the Health and Safety Representative in most jurisdictions and historically, the HSR has been a union member. I suspect that union members still make up the largest proportion of HSR training courses. … Continue reading “A history of Australian trade unionism”
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”
Early in 2008, the Victorian Government sprung a surprise on the OHS and health promotion industries by announcing a world-first initiative – WorkHealth. This program was to be funded by interest generated from the WorkCover scheme to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars over the next five years. WorkHealth loses stakeholder support Two … Continue reading “WorkHealth – end is nigh after less than one year”
If I have a cold that could spread to my work colleagues, I take the day off. I use my entitlement of sick leave to achieve two aims – to get myself well and to avoid infecting my workmates. Both these aims are within the context of occupational health, safety and wellness. The Australian newspaper … Continue reading “The safety context of sick leave entitlements”
There have been two instances in Australia in the last week where workers compensation claims have made the news. The first was in relation to the suicide attempt by Tasmanian politician, Paula Wriedt. She has revealed that after the break-up of her marriage she had an affair with one of the government chauffeurs, Ben Chaffey. … Continue reading “Using workers compensation claims as exit strategies”
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”
Presenteeism is when a worker attends work when they should not due to illness. Frequently ill workers attend the office or the factory because they feel that they are indispensable. This may be the case but they can then present health risks to others by communicating their flu or other disease to their colleagues. However, … Continue reading “Presenteeism in the US”