Australia is undergoing a process of national harmonisation on workplace safety legislation. The government has played down the chances of State jurisdictions creating exemptions to, or variations of, OHS law. The message was that we are all “singing from the same song sheet”. Even before model OHS legislation has been approved, the New South Wales … Continue reading “Farmers creating dis-harmony in OHS legislation”
Following two short messages from international representatives of the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) and the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), the Governor of Victoria, Professor David de Kretser AC, officially opened the Safety In Action Conference for 2009. The Governor made several pleas or suggestions. One was for the application of … Continue reading “Safety In Action Conference – Part One”
A couple of weeks ago I conducted interviews with several speakers in the Safety In Action Conference to be held in Melbourne, Australia at the end of March 2009. The finalised videos are below. Helen Marshall is Australia’s Federal Safety Commissioner who has a challenging job monitoring major government construction sites. Dr Martyn Newman is … Continue reading “Safety Interviews”
In the Australian Financial Review on 17 February 2009 (page 8 but not accessible online) Steven Scott reports that the Western Australian Treasurer Troy Buswell is in a stoush with the Federal government over OHS laws. They are not. Buswell is quoted as saying “My view is that it’s much more appropriate to make sure … Continue reading “Response to National OHS Law Review”
Last week, the release of the final report of Australia’s review into National Model OHS Law was touted by many as immediately after the meeting of the Workplace Relations Ministers Council (WRMC). This occurred with the first report in 2008. WRMC met in a teleconference yesterday. When the report is released officially (rumours are that … Continue reading “Australia’s OHS Law Review”
On the night of the 29 October 2008 over 570 people attended the WorkCover NSW Safety Awards. The awards are in their fifth year and the ceremony was professional, well organised and, perhaps most importantly, an excellent opportunity for safety professionals to meet others. There were clients and advisers, ergonomists and hygienists, health and safety … Continue reading “New South Wales Safety Awards Night”
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”