Most of the Australian media covered the prosecution of the latest of three young men who set fire to a work colleague during their apprenticeships. As the case was heard in a Magistrates’ Court, the only sources of information on the case are a couple of original media reports and the statement from WorkSafe Victoria … Continue reading “Apprentice set on fire, bully gets $5k penalty”
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”
In 2008, a New South Wales Parliamentary Committee reported to the Government on problems with that State’s Ambulance Services. The problems included bullying, harassment and a dysfunctional management. A review into the Ambulance Services progress on the recommendations two years later has found : “…the general feedback received from ambulance officers is that despite the new initiatives, little has changed, and significant management and … Continue reading “The struggle to achieve cultural change on OHS”
In February 2010, the New York Times ran an article about depression by Jonah Lehrer. The same article appeared in some of Australia’s weekend newspapers in early March. Lehrer looks at the issue of depression and considers whether there is a potential upside to the disorder by looking back as far as Charles Darwin for … Continue reading “When looking to understand psychosocial issues, ask your grandparents”
Bernard Keane writing in online newsletter, Crikey, is one of the few who has reported on the Australian Government’s insulation scheme debacle and kept the fact of worker deaths as more than just a moral sideline to the issue. On 3 March 2010, Keane wrote a very good article which draws on the political and media … Continue reading “Non-mainstream media acknowledges the realities of workplace fatalities”