More details are appearing of the findings of an independent inquiry into mental health and suicides in the Melbourne Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB), a report whose release has been stalled by the United Firefighters’ Union (UFU). According to the inquiry’s chair, in an article in the ABC news website, Dr Peter Cotton, “…the MFB has … Continue reading “Firefighters’ mental health”
Australia’s emergency services have had several reviews into accusations of workplace bullying, harassment, mental health or suicides. Melbourne’s Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) is the latest to undergo this type of review but the United Firefighters Union (UFU) is not happy about the release of the final report, which was due out today. If the final … Continue reading “Work-related suicides in another militarily-structured organisation”
Several years ago, at a workshop over the development of the next Australian National Strategy for occupational health and safety (OHS), participants were asked to forecast an issue that would appear or be useful in the next decade. I suggested sub-dermal implants that would record or transmit real-time health data. My suggestion was received with … Continue reading “OHS benefits of motion sensors and contemporary anthropometry”
The Institute for Safety, Compensation and Recovery Research (ISCRR) has tried a new format for its occupational health and safety (OHS) seminars. It is not a lunch with a single presenter and it is not a Three-Minute Thesis. It is five safety researchers in one hour, seven minutes per person and a single question from … Continue reading “5 experts in 60 minutes”
There are two newspaper reports in Australia on 21 June 2012 about the Victorian Police Force that illustrate a fractious safety culture and a major organisational and ideological impediment to reducing workplace bullying. The Australian article ” OPI concedes failure against force’s culture” (only available to subscribers) states that: ‘The Office of Police Integrity has … Continue reading “Workplace bullying in the police force illustrates the challenges of change management”
Melody Kemp in Vientiane writes: The apoplectic brouhaha that greeted Wikileaks in the past few months has shown us the power of the internet to upstage, discomfit and enrage. Governments like corporations operate under a variety of ‘commercial-in-confidence’ scores, the cadence of which changes with the degree of self interest at hand. That Wikileaks has … Continue reading “The Social Media is the Message”
OHS: The Pearl Harbour Syndrome[i] – Poverty of Expectations – The Japanese attack on US forces at Pearl Harbour in the Hawaiian Islands on Sunday 7th December 1941 was a military disaster for the US described as a totally unforseen and unforeseeable attack. It shocked the American people and brought the US into WWII (essentially … Continue reading “OHS: The Pearl Harbour Syndrome”