On 21 September 2010, Radio Australia’s regular program Australia Talks conducted a live interview concerning occupational safety and health. For those who have been listening to the show for some time would have been surprised that the program covered much of the same old OHS ground. Similar statistics, similar questions of what are the most dangerous occupations, similar … Continue reading “Radio National OHS program”
If further information about the increasing inter-relationships between psychosocial health and physical health, organisational culture and a worker’s mental health was needed, a new study from Sweden provides convincing evidence. The research, a study of 81 research projects into the links between psychosocial factors and musculoskeletal disorders, was reported in by Eurofound on 10 September 2010. It found, among other … Continue reading “Safety begins to converge to focus on the individual”
Now is the time for the OHS fraternity to lobby local politicians on the importance of workplace safety for the community and business. Australia is facing a hung Parliament following the 21 August 2010 federal election. OHS was mentioned early in the campaign but not since even though there were opportunities. Industrial relations was raised in the … Continue reading “Now is the time for all good OHS lobbyists to come to the aid of their country”
In July 2010, Melbourne Australia is hosting the 2010 conference of the International Congress of Applied Psychology. What was an OHS consultant at this conference? The question should be why wasn’t OHS consultants at this conference? This conference is not about workplace safety, per se. It is about how people think and communicate. It provides … Continue reading “ICAP Congress of Applied Psychology is a neglected OHS resource”
Guest author, Yossi Berger writes: “What’s the point of tellin’ them the same thing over and over when nothin’ changes? I open my mouth about safety again I could lose me job” he said, “Why would I bother?”[a] Introduction Words and names can be used as sneaky accomplices to construct popular or inaccurate narratives. When … Continue reading “OHS Canaries and Apathy”
The latest OHS podcast from Boardroom Radio reinforces the need to enforce company policies. The impliacation is that it is very easy to equate legislative compliance with the existence of a policy instead of the implementation of a policy. The need to keep polices and procedures simple was mentioned but there is the risk that brevity does not … Continue reading “The risk of being over-policied”
On 20 May 2010, SafetyAtWorkBlog mentioned the “challenge” of harmonising OHS approaches to bullying and harassment. This morning Safe Work Australia provided a list of the Code of Practice and Regulations that are being developed as part of the OHS harmonisation process: Model Regulations “Licences – general e.g. asbestos and high risk. Workplaces –first aid, personal protection … Continue reading “New OHS Codes and Regulations for Australia”