In January 2011 WorkSafe indicated its intention to prosecute the Department of Corrective Services and others in relation to death of Mr Ward. A $A285,000 penalty was imposed on 7 July 2011. SafetyAtWorkBlog reported on the WorkSafe actions at the time but an excellent clearinghouse for information on this case is the website of the … Continue reading “Government department fined $285k over prison van death”
On 20 May 2010, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation televised a story on the South Australian 7.30 program about the supposedly poor investigative performance of SafeWorkSA. The article was framed by a mother’s grief, the grief of Andrea Madeley over the loss of her son, Daniel. The story was some weeks coming as the story’s production … Continue reading “TV report into SafeWorkSA’s performance”
Victoria’s largest OHS conference and trade show has ended. The shadow of the impending harmonisation of OHS laws hung over both events. The OHS message throughout the conference was one of nothing to worry about. WorkSafe’s Ian Forsythe felt that Victoria was well-placed for minimal disruption as the OHS laws in that State had … Continue reading “Dis-harmonisation over OHS laws”
Within the last week, Victoria’s State Premier, John Brumby, lost an election allowing the conservative parties in the Australian State to gain power, narrowly, after over a decade in isolation. Election pledges are now only of historic interest but let’s look at a couple. The crime of workplace bullying According to the Australian Financial Review … Continue reading “Election failure, missed opportunities on bullying”
Australian business groups have written an open letter to the New South Wales Government protesting about the decision to continue with some OHS processes specific to New South Wales regardless of previous commitments to support the harmonisation of OHS laws. As the letter was published as an advertisement (Page 6 of The Australian on 20 October 2010), it is not readily available online … Continue reading “Australian business is outraged over OHS changes but is it all piss and wind?”
On 21 September 2010, Radio Australia’s regular program Australia Talks conducted a live interview concerning occupational safety and health. For those who have been listening to the show for some time would have been surprised that the program covered much of the same old OHS ground. Similar statistics, similar questions of what are the most dangerous occupations, similar … Continue reading “Radio National OHS program”
In 2002, after several corporate collapses, the United States government signed in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act which was intended to establish business practices on accounting and auditing among other aims. The Western world watched the introduction of this legislation and echoed many of the requirements in their own legislation and corporate oversight agencies. It is likely in the wake of the global financial crisis that the United States … Continue reading “Where’s the Sarbanes-Oxley for workplace safety?”