Search Results for: psychosocial harm

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Harm prevention needs to look beyond the individual into the corporate and the systemic

Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) are excellent resources for minimising harm from workplace issues, particularly psychosocial hazards.  However this usually occurs after an event or an incident.  This reality was emphasised recently by a media release from AccessEAP that revealed “the top five causes of workplace stress” (not available online but an article based closely on … Continue reading “Harm prevention needs to look beyond the individual into the corporate and the systemic”

Law reform does not prevent harm, only compensates for it

Josh Bornstein is a media-savvy lawyer with Maurice Blackburn who has gained some prominence on the matter of workplace bullying.  A week ago Bornstein spoke at a Legalwise seminar in Melbourne Australia and he has yet to stop running on his topic of discussion – “Disproving the seven myths about workplace bullying”.  Today he released … Continue reading “Law reform does not prevent harm, only compensates for it”

“Do some good” sounds more effective than achieving “zero harm”

The April 2012 edition of the UK magazine Training Journal makes a statement that is so simple, safety professionals should be kicking themselves.  The safety profession is trying to change the measurement of safety from lag indicators to lead, from negatives to positives, from failures to successes and yet we continue to talk about zero harm.  In Training Journal, … Continue reading ““Do some good” sounds more effective than achieving “zero harm””

Is OHS harmonisation a dead parrot or is it just pining?

In The Australian newspaper on 3 April 2012, Judith Sloan presents a useful summary of the status of the OHS harmonisation process.  Many of her criticisms are valid but she has not realised that the new Work Health and Safety laws stopped being occupational health and safety laws some time ago.  It is easier to … Continue reading “Is OHS harmonisation a dead parrot or is it just pining?”

Lawyer says OHS harmonisation has become a shambles

The 28 December 2011 edition of the Australian Financial Review (AFR) (not available online) quotes Australian labour lawyer, Michael Tooma, talking about the harmonisation of workplace safety laws: “It’s descended into a farce, a shambles – only four jurisdictions are ready for the laws.” This seems supported by the words of the recently-appointed Workplace Relations … Continue reading “Lawyer says OHS harmonisation has become a shambles”

Good Comcare content on effects of OHS harmonisation

Australia’s Comcare was the first of the OHS regulators to provide an information session on Australia’s attempts to harmonise its OHS laws across many different jurisdictions and industry sectors.  The Melbourne seminar on 7 February 2011 could have been presented better but some useful information was available. Content – Inspectorate The most significant OHS information to come … Continue reading “Good Comcare content on effects of OHS harmonisation”

Harmonising bullying terminology extends well beyond OHS

In May 2010, Workplace Health & Safety Queensland uploaded a Workplace Harassment Assessment Tool.  The curious element to the information is that Queensland does not mention the word “bullying” even though the assessment criteria cover this hazard. As Australia moves to harmonised legislation on workplace safety issues, the harmonisation of terminology is going to be important and probably subject to lively … Continue reading “Harmonising bullying terminology extends well beyond OHS”