As a discipline for study, fatigue still seems to be in its early days and this presents a challenge for safety professionals and researchers. Everyone knows what fatigue is because at some time we all suffer it, but try to define it and it is different things to different people. Transport Safety Victoria (TSV), a division of … Continue reading “Fatigue management is getting clearer but is competing for attention”
The smoke from the mine: It has been a frighteningly bad month in the mining industry internationally. OHS meetings I attended during this period have been hushed as a result of the New Zealand tragedies. Discussions about OHS have become more pertinent and more accurate – for the time being. But this, like stunning but … Continue reading “Of stunning, short-lived cactus flowers and quad bikes”
The new report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) into prisoner health and welfare makes no mention of workplace safety, even though most prisons in Australia have formal work programs for commercial gain. The report “The health of Australia’s prisoners 2009” details the health and welfare status of Australian prisoners with some … Continue reading “Prisons are another world when implementing workplace safety”
Depression as an occupational illness is one of the most difficult hazards faced by managers and safety professionals. Depression is hard to understand and it is often difficult to recognise an employee who suffers from the condition, let alone, figuring out how the workplace may contribute to the illness. [Mental health issues are going to … Continue reading “Prevention of depression is better than treatment”
For those in the Northern Hemisphere at the moment, the risk of heat stress for workers is an extremely low priority but in Australia, even in the cooler parts and suburbia, the Summer temperatures are tipped to reach 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) over the next few weeks. Away from the urban and coastal … Continue reading “Heat stress (in the middle of Winter)”
In January 2003, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) issued the following media statement outlining its initiatives to reduce the injuries associated with quad bikes on farms in Australia. SafetyAtWorkBlog is following up with the FCAI for further information on quad bike safety and any objections the FCAI has to roll-over protection structures. An earlier article … Continue reading “Further quad bike safety information”
The city in which SafetyAtWorkBlog is edited, Melbourne, is struggling to manage a spate of street violence – some racially-based, a lot influenced by alcohol and drugs. The Age newspaper carried a feature article on 25 August 2009 discussing the concept of “restorative justice”, a concept that is barely known outside of some legal or … Continue reading “Restorative Justice and workplace fatalities – Part 1”