On June 20 2018, the Australian government announced a National Inquiry into Sexual Harassment in the Workplace, claiming it to be a world-first. Sexual harassment is not an occupational health and safety (OHS) hazard in many ways BUT the psychological harm it can create is. The job of an OHS person is to encourage employers …
Occupational health and safety (OHS), building safety and public safety often overlap but never more so than in the instance of the Grenfell fire of June 2017. The UK Government has just released the final report into the incident and there are many interesting lessons for workplace health and safety and its social role. Dame …
Small regional conferences often work better than major city-based conferences as the atmosphere is more relaxed, delegates are more approachable and there is less pressure to attend some grand trade expo. Riskology’s Sarah-Jane Dunford gambled on her first New South Wales Regional Safety Conference and Expo last week. (A short interview with Dunford is available …
In 19 February 2018, Safe Work Australia (SWA) “launched” the independent review of Australia’s Work Health and Safety laws under former Executive Director of SafeWorkSA, Marie Boland. SWA has released a 49-page discussion paper, a summary and a list of questions. Below is an initial response to some of those questions. What are your views on …
In 2018, Marie Boland will be conducting an independent review of Australia’s Work Health and Safety laws to see if the laws are “… achieving their original objectives, and if they have resulted in any unintended consequences.” We may already be seeing one of the unintended consequences. On December 22, 2017, SafeWork NSW granted an …
Occupational health and safety advocates are pushing for safety management and strategies to refocus on people by talking about “people-centric” approaches and recalibrating legislation to re-emphasise prevention. This push parallels society’s frustration with political strategies that favour big business, the under-investment in education and health care systems and companies that announce record profits at the same …
On 30 October 2017, the Safety Institute of Australia and RMIT University held their annual OHS Construction Forum. This year’s theme was flexible working arrangements – a brave choice that did not really work but was indicative of safety in the construction industry generally. Several speakers discussed well-being generally and how flexible working arrangements were …