“…OHS is not fit for the 21st century. It is isolated, has a limited academic base and remit, uneven provision, lack of good quality data, a poor image and is perceived by many as the servant of the employer.” Professor Niki Ellis speaks frankly about the OHS discipline in Australia. Professor Niki Ellis recently was appointed the … Continue reading “Professor Niki Ellis hits out at the state of OHS in Australia”
On 12 February 2010, the Greens parliamentarian, Mark Parnell, accused WorkCover Corporation of failing injured workers in South Australia. In response to the release of the Parliament’s Statutory Authorities Review Committee (SARC) inquiry into WorkCover, he said “The Greens have been saying for a number of years now that the outsourcing of WorkCover’s claims management is a … Continue reading “Workers’ Compensation becomes an election issue in South Australia”
On 24 January 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, encouraged all Australians to increase their “productivity growth“. But what if increased productivity could result in developing a mental disorder? The February 2010 edition of the Harvard Mental Health Letter includes a report that lists the following key points: “Symptoms of mental health disorders may be different … Continue reading “Work harder? You must be mad”
The issue of “enforceable undertakings” for breaches of OHS law receives an interesting interpretation in the Courier-Mail newspaper on 18 January 2010. “Enforceable undertakings” are unfairly described as “plea bargains” but the article does provide some comparisons to support the argument. The first example provided where a worker was left a paraplegic sounds like a plea bargain in that there was … Continue reading “Do “enforceable undertakings” equal justice?”
It is easy to forget that workers compensation is clicking along during this intense period of analysis of OHS laws. Workers compensation legislation passed through Tasmania’s House of Assembly this week (it still needs to get through the Legislative Council). The Minister for Workplace relations, Lisa Singh, highlighted the following components of the changes in a media release on 6 … Continue reading “Tasmania’s workers compensation changes pass”
A South Australian colleague has pointed out some interesting elements in WorkCover SA’s review of employer incentives discussed earlier. The following text are some of the aims of South Australia’s Workers Compensation and Rehabilitation Act. (1) The objects of this Act are— (a) to establish a workers rehabilitation and compensation scheme— (i) that achieves a … Continue reading “Justice in workers’ compensation reforms”
WorkCover in South Australia has released a discussion paper for public comment on 9 November 2009. The paper is called “Consultation on a new framework for employer incentives” and poses the following questions: Do you think there should be any financial incentives for employers in relation to workers rehabilitation and compensation? What do you think about the … Continue reading “Fixing what is broken”