Safe Work Australia has released a couple more of its annual statistical reports about workplace injuries and fatalities. The report that covers 2006/07 ( Work-Related Traumatic Injury Fatalities, Australia 2006-07) included this information in the Summary of Findings “[In 2006–07]…a total of 453 work-related traumatic injury fatalities in Australia during 2006–07. In 2006–07, just … Continue reading “Australian OHS statistics just released”
Workplace fatalities have markedly increased in Victoria over the last couple of months. According to WorkSafe Victoria information nine people have died within the last two months bringing the current total to 27 for 2009. Victoria has a high awareness of the need for safety in the workplace, principally due to the advertising campaigns of WorkSafe which began, in one form … Continue reading “Safety awareness ≠ safety (always)”
Regularly in OHS submissions to the government and on OHS discussion forums, safety professionals state that industrial relations should be kept separate from workplace safety issues. In a perfect world ? Possibly, but there was a court decision on 13 November 2009 in Australia that shows that this separation is not possible in the modern … Continue reading “Crushed finger leads to claim and Court”
The mainstream press has dipped into some of the submissions to the Australian Government on its harmonisation of OHS laws. Kirsty Needham reports on the submissions in the Sydney Morning Herald. Needham reports on basically the submissions of the Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the Australian Council of Trade Unions – the ideological … Continue reading “Where is the evidence of OHS misuse for IR purposes?”
Let’s pull together several workplace hazards and suggest one control measure that may address all of them at once. Of course, the control may generate other work hazards or management challenges. In Summer, work occurs throughout daylight hours. The long days, and possibly daylight savings, maximise the window of productivity for workers, particularly those who … Continue reading “Summer heat, fatigue and UV – a speculative solution”
On 29 October 2009, WorkSafe Victoria held its WorkSafe Awards event at the Palladium Room at Melbourne’s Crown Casino. SafetyAtWorkBlog attended as a guest. All the winners were deserved and there are short profiles of some of the winners below. The first award was for the Health & Safety Representative of the Year, won by Phyl Hilton. Hilton … Continue reading “WorkSafe Victoria Awards winners”
In early September 2009, Safe Work Australia released four national statistical reports. On 19 October 2009 a further six in the 2005-06 stats series were released: Manufacturing Health & community services Agriculture, forestry & fishing Retail Construction Transport It is not possible to provide the executive summaries of each report in this instance but there were several … Continue reading “SafeWork Australia releases six workplace statistical reports”