The Herald-Sun newspaper has released the final report into the mental health and suicide rate of Victorian metropolitan firefighters. The report, authored by Dr Peter Cotton, found that the issues uncovered in the review of firefighters in the Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) are not dissimilar from the findings of other inquiries into emergency service organisations …
Recently the Victorian Women Lawyers conducted a seminar into the outcomes of Victoria’s Royal Commission into Family Violence. SafetyAtWorkBlog attended even though the topic seems, initially, to have a tenuous link to occupational health and safety (OHS). Family violence is relevant to OHS through its influence on workplace mental ill-health, productivity and the need for cultural …
Vision of the mistreatment of children in juvenile detention centres in Australia’s Northern Territory was aired on the ABC Four Corners program on 25 June 2016. Within 24 hours, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced a Royal Commission into juvenile detention. The treatment shown was not new and had been known by the NT Government and … Continue reading “Royal Commission into juvenile detention should include OHS”
Carsten Busch has self-published “Safety Myth 101” – a book that is one of the most comprehensive discussions on contemporary approaches to occupational health and safety (OHS). But it is also riddled with the problems of many self-published books – the lack of a strong and tough editor, an unattractive presentation and a mess of … Continue reading “Great safety book let down by the format”
On March 30 2016, the Andrew Victorian Government released the final report of the Royal Commission into Family Violence. Family violence, otherwise known as domestic violence, is not strictly an occupational health and safety (OHS) but the mental health effects can flow into the workplace and, some argue, fails to deter family violence. The final …
An online version of Safety Science includes an article by Gunther Paul and Warwick Pearse who discuss “An international benchmark for the Australian OHS Body of Knowledge” (paywalled). Paul and Pearse have been critical of the emphasis given the OHS Body of Knowledge (OHS BoK) in the the accreditation processes of Australian OHS professionals and …
A coronial finding in Queensland in September 2015 illustrates how daily activities can lead to tragedy but also the role of safety culture. According to one media report, in investigating the 2009 death of 24-year-old Cameron Cole who was hit as a pipe rack fell from a truck, the Queensland Coroner, Terry Ryan, found that …