Search Results for: psychosocial hazards

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Dignity At Work, different UK and Australian approaches

On 26 January 2010, a fascinating document was released from England concerning  workplace harassment and violence.  This builds on earlier work in Europe and has led to the joint guidance on “Preventing Workplace Harassment and Violence“. The guidance has the demonstrated support of employer, employee and government representatives who have committed to “…ensuring that the risks of encountering harassment and violence … Continue reading “Dignity At Work, different UK and Australian approaches”

Business assessment of OHS

Australia’s Productivity Commission released its draft report into Performance Benchmarking of Australian Business Regulation: Occupational Health and Safety on 27 January 2010.  The 432-page report will take some time to read and digest but below are the general key points of the report “This study compares inter-jurisdictional differences in occupational health and safety (OHS) legislation in … Continue reading “Business assessment of OHS”

Prevention of depression is better than treatment

Depression as an occupational illness is one of the most difficult hazards faced by managers and safety professionals.  Depression is hard to understand and it is often difficult to recognise an employee who suffers from the condition, let alone, figuring out how the workplace may contribute to the illness. [Mental health issues are going to … Continue reading “Prevention of depression is better than treatment”

HSE Chair’s review of 2009

Judith Hackett, Chair of the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE), reviews the performance of the agency in the December podcast produced by the agency.  Transcript is available online The podcast provides a positive outlook for the HSE which one would expect.  Hackett talks about the need for the HSE to dispel the myths that … Continue reading “HSE Chair’s review of 2009”

The future of the School of Risk & Safety Science

It was good to hear the President of the Safety Institute of Australia (SIA), Barry Silburn on the radio on 7 December 2009. The SIA has traditionally been very hesitant about going public on safety issues but clearly the potential disappearance of the School of Risk & Safety Science from the University of New South … Continue reading “The future of the School of Risk & Safety Science”

A good book of safety solutions case studies

Australia has many safety awards programs.  SafetyAtWorkBlog has reported on some of the practical solutions from the awards and lamented how the prominence of such solutions fades quickly as the mainstream media ignores them.  The blog has also shown examples of a hard copy solutions database that existed in Victoria and Australia for a couple of decades. The … Continue reading “A good book of safety solutions case studies”

ROPS and Quad Bikes – the failure of ATV manufacturers and OHS regulators

The Hierarchy of Controls has some questionable OHS applications to psychosocial hazards but it applies very well to “traditional” hazards, those involving plant.  The Hierarchy also emphasizes that the first step in any hazard control is to consider whether the hazard can be eliminated.  But what happens when the designers of equipment and plant know that a design can be made … Continue reading “ROPS and Quad Bikes – the failure of ATV manufacturers and OHS regulators”