The Australian Financial Review (AFR) on 13 September 2011 is muddying the waters on objections to Australian harmonised OHS laws. The Victorian Government would support a delay to the introduction of the laws until, according to previous media reports, the release of the Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) on the new laws. The AFR is reporting … Continue reading “Alarmism and confusion over Australia’s OHS harmonisation process”
The latest edition of the Journal of Occupational Medicine (JOM) (Vol 61. No 5 Aug 2011) includes a short article on the occupational impact of climate change, an issue that must be addressed in the work context and one that places additional challenges for those involved with safe design. The JOM article lists the following … Continue reading “OHS will eventually need to address the big climate change impacts”
Some of Australia’s top work health and safety experts have stressed, to Safe Work Australia, the need for a single national OHS regulator. Many also called for a radical overhaul of workers’ compensation and insurance structures to achieve a combined insurance/compensation similar to that of New Zealand, the Accident Compensation Commission (ACC). These calls were made in a whole … Continue reading “Australian OHS experts call for a single OHS regulator and a unified insurance system”
Conference organisers IQPC started its two-day Safety in Design, Engineering and Construction conference on 16 August 2011. The most prominent speaker on day one was Barry Sherriff of law firm, Norton Rose. Sherriff spoke about OHS harmonisation‘s impact on the Australian construction industry. Over time Australian labour lawyers generally have moved from saying that Victorian companies … Continue reading “Concerns increase as Australia’s OHS law changes loom”
The politics of the Australian print media may be illustrated by an article in The Australian Financial Review (AFR) (only available through subscription or hard copy) on 27 July 2011 that, essential contrasts yesterday’s article in The Australian. Today’s AFR article places the Australian Industry Group (AiGroup) and the Business Council of Australia (BCA) in … Continue reading “Business groups have different stances on harmonisation issues”
The Australian newspaper reports today (26 July 2011) of a clash between the Construction Forestry Mining & Energy Union (CFMEU) and BHP Billiton over fatigue management. Fatigue management is one of the workplace hazards scheduled for a draft code of practice under the OHS harmonisation process. The CFMEU believes that the current mining-related guidance is inadequate. “The Construction Forestry … Continue reading “Fatigue dispute illustrates ideological clash”
The draft OHS documents for mining in Australia seemed like a fairly rudimentary release in Australia’s move to harmonisation of its safety laws but several issues have appeared in the media since the draft’s release. The CEO of the New South Wales Minerals Council, Nikki Williams, found something other than the carbon tax to discuss during … Continue reading “Draft mining OHS documents cause concern”