Workplace fatalities have markedly increased in Victoria over the last couple of months. According to WorkSafe Victoria information nine people have died within the last two months bringing the current total to 27 for 2009. Victoria has a high awareness of the need for safety in the workplace, principally due to the advertising campaigns of WorkSafe which began, in one form … Continue reading “Safety awareness ≠ safety (always)”
For over 40 years, the Australian State of Victoria has had several safety organisations that exist under the radar. In the 1960s the Department of Labour & Industries supported the generation of safety groups but many groups simply appeared. These groups are, what in contemporary times would be referred to as, networking groups. The members were from a range of … Continue reading “Grass Roots Safety”
Regularly in OHS submissions to the government and on OHS discussion forums, safety professionals state that industrial relations should be kept separate from workplace safety issues. In a perfect world ? Possibly, but there was a court decision on 13 November 2009 in Australia that shows that this separation is not possible in the modern … Continue reading “Crushed finger leads to claim and Court”
WorkSafe Victoria is investigating two gas leaks that occurred on 6 November 2009 at the Longford gas plant owned by Esso. This plant was subject to a fatal explosion in 1998 and was recently written about on SafetyAtWorkBlog. According to an ABC news report on 11 November 2009, repairing one leak led to a consequent … Continue reading “Gas leaks at Esso’s Longford plant”
The Australian State of Victoria has been in a fortuitous position with a Coroner, Graeme Johnstone, who was a staunch advocate of safety in the public and workplace spheres. Johnstone was a strong and physical presence at many conferences and in the media. Indeed, it would be difficult to find a more obvious and influential … Continue reading “New coronial approach should lead to greater safety information”
Finally, a State-based safety awards night that has both OHS and Return-to-Work awards. On 27 October 2009, Workplace Health & Safety Queensland held its annual safety awards night as part of Safe Work Australia Week. In a media release, the Minister for Industrial Relations, Cameron Dick, said “The inaugural Return to Work Awards are run by Q-COMP – the statutory authority that … Continue reading “Combining safety and RTW awards”
On 29 October 2009, WorkSafe Victoria held its WorkSafe Awards event at the Palladium Room at Melbourne’s Crown Casino. SafetyAtWorkBlog attended as a guest. All the winners were deserved and there are short profiles of some of the winners below. The first award was for the Health & Safety Representative of the Year, won by Phyl Hilton. Hilton … Continue reading “WorkSafe Victoria Awards winners”