Any inquiry into musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) in any industry is of great interest to OHS professionals as MSD are the bane of the profession. The New South Wales Dept of Primary Industries (DPI) is requesting public comment on a new MSD guidance for the mining and extractive industries. Below is some text from the media … Continue reading “Draft guidance on musculoskeletal injuries in mining”
OHS law is generally structured in a positive way and based on the logic that people will act appropriately if there is a deterrent for doing the wrong thing. This logic applies to many levels of public administration, commerce and psychology. Some years ago, this logic was challenged during some consultation I undertook for a … Continue reading “Insurance for OHS penalties”
Australian governments have all missed the solid, positive support that workplace safety can provide in pushing through useful OHS, and industrial, initiatives. It would be a courageous employer who argued against any initiative that is intended to imporve the level of safety in any workplaces. The Deputy Prime Minister and IR Minister, Julia Gillard, reminded me … Continue reading “What does the government mean by “flexibility”?”
Last Friday the Australian Jockeys Association issued a media release in support of their safety campaign for increased compensation. The campaign was surprising on a number of points. The safety campaign is aimed to “help jockeys manage the risks inherent in their work”. Over the last few years there has been a marked increase in … Continue reading “When a safety campaign is not a safety campaign”
Over the last few days at the Tasmanian inquest into the death of Larry Knight, several geotechnical consultants and experts have been going through their reports to Beaconsfield Mine management. These assessment reports were undertaken before the collapse that caused Larry Knight’s death. The impression from media reports is that mine management listened to, or … Continue reading “Who manages safety – employers or inspectors?”
The Australian government has established an Australian Social Inclusion Board. This is what the government says is the purpose and challenges of the Board: This social exclusion is a significant barrier to sustained prosperity and restricts Australia’s future economic growth. Promoting social inclusion requires a new way of governing. Australia must rethink how policy and … Continue reading “Safety – on the fringe again”
The New South Wales Liberal Party has released an email from the Pialla Mental Health Nursing Staff to WorkCover detailing their “security” concerns. The original email is available HERE. The Liberals are making as much political mileage out of this issue as they can. Many media reports in Australia have said that some patients have … Continue reading “Gaining Political Mileage Out of “handcuff(ed) psychiatric patients””