Andrew Douglas, an Australian OHS and employment relations lawyer, has followed up some his points made in a podcast on 2 October 2009 in an article available on his firm’s website. Part of the article says So what is different about the Model Act and how will it be interpreted? When interpreting an Act you always turn to … Continue reading “Harmonised OHS laws – winners and losers”
On 25 September 2009, Australia’s Workplace Relations Ministers Council (WRMC) agreed to release the draft legislation for public comment. According to one media report, the New South Wales Finance Minister, Joe Tripodi, “…moved at the [WRMC] meeting to have union prosecutions included in the new laws and was defeated by eight votes to one.” The documents are now available for download HERE. … Continue reading “Harmonisation documents available but path is far from settled”
The Australian newspaper of 1 September 2009 epitomised the ideological problems with OHS in a business management context. Page 5 has two articles next to each other: “Renewed pledge to cut business regulation” and “Building chief ‘spat on an abused‘”. The first article reports on a speech by the Competition Minister, Craig Emerson, where it … Continue reading “In Australia OHS management is red tape”
Some time ago WorkSafe Victoria issued Compliance Codes on a number of workplace safety issues. One was concerning First Aid. The Compliance Codes were intended to replace Codes of Practice which had been around for decades. The previous major change to workplace first aid was in 1995 when the First Aid Code of Practice was … Continue reading “Flawed first aid information”
Australian Standards can have a major role to play in the management of safety in workplaces. They apply to equipment, documents, decisions and can have legislative credibility if required by specific regulations. Australian Standards are regularly referred to in guidances issued by OHS regulators adding further credibility. The highest selling standard for many years has … Continue reading “Two different approaches to risk management and safety in Australia”