Any professional sees elements of their profession in other walks of life. Police notice infringements when they are off duty. Teachers often continue to instruct or educate when outside of school. Journalist’s conversations with friends often contain pointed questions. Safety professionals, commonly, extend safety principles to their own behaviours and lives. This can sometimes lead … Continue reading “Strengthening safety decision-making”
Australia has released a draft Code of Practice on “preventing and responding to workplace bullying“. As it is the latest publication on this issue by an OHS authority, it deserves some analysis. The draft code has applied the established definition of workplace bullying as: “repeated, unreasonable behaviour directed towards a worker or a group of workers, that … Continue reading “Bullying Code of Practice illustrates the huge challenges of OHS in Australia”
Over many years OHS regulators in Australia have produced guidance notes and Codes of Practice to assist businesses in addressing the hazard of workers working alone. The new model Work Heath and Safety (WHS) Regulations due to be released with several Codes on 26 September 2011 brings the serious hazard of working alone to the front of … Continue reading “Working Alone gets regulatory boost”
The Australian newspaper reports today (26 July 2011) of a clash between the Construction Forestry Mining & Energy Union (CFMEU) and BHP Billiton over fatigue management. Fatigue management is one of the workplace hazards scheduled for a draft code of practice under the OHS harmonisation process. The CFMEU believes that the current mining-related guidance is inadequate. “The Construction Forestry … Continue reading “Fatigue dispute illustrates ideological clash”
The draft OHS documents for mining in Australia seemed like a fairly rudimentary release in Australia’s move to harmonisation of its safety laws but several issues have appeared in the media since the draft’s release. The CEO of the New South Wales Minerals Council, Nikki Williams, found something other than the carbon tax to discuss during … Continue reading “Draft mining OHS documents cause concern”
In early 2010, Australia’s Heads of Workplace Safety Authorities (HWSA) established a trans-Tasman working party to look at the safety issues of quad bikes, often called all-terrain vehicles. The working group is in the final stages of its report and a major motorcycle industry representative has not liked the findings and has apparently withdrawn from the working group. A report on … Continue reading “Quad bike manufacturers walk out of safety working group”
A major Australian rural newspaper, The Weekly Times, has devoted its front page to an article on rollover protective devices on quad bikes. It has taken as the base new information released by the Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety (ACAHS) through a media release. The new policy paper and the supporting Practical Management Guide … Continue reading “New quad bike research and practical safety guidance”