On 18 October 2011, there was a brief discussion on workplace bullying in the ACT Legislative Assembly of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The question to Chief Minister Katy Gallagher, stemmed, ostensibly, from a recent WorkSafe ACT assessment of Canberra restaurants and food retailers. The assessment identified that: “… only 66 per cent of food outlets … Continue reading “Bullying has many causes and too many avenues of appeal”
In occupational health and safety, as with any profession, it is useful to ask for evidence. When on a work site, it is important to always ask “why?” Why do you do your work task that way? Why are you not wearing the PPE that everyone else is wearing? Why are you working such late … Continue reading “Look for evidence in online OHS content”
Australia has released a draft Code of Practice on “preventing and responding to workplace bullying“. As it is the latest publication on this issue by an OHS authority, it deserves some analysis. The draft code has applied the established definition of workplace bullying as: “repeated, unreasonable behaviour directed towards a worker or a group of workers, that … Continue reading “Bullying Code of Practice illustrates the huge challenges of OHS in Australia”
Over many years OHS regulators in Australia have produced guidance notes and Codes of Practice to assist businesses in addressing the hazard of workers working alone. The new model Work Heath and Safety (WHS) Regulations due to be released with several Codes on 26 September 2011 brings the serious hazard of working alone to the front of … Continue reading “Working Alone gets regulatory boost”
It is rare to visit the Bible when thinking about occupational health and safety but this week Australia’s Uniting Church, its Creative Ministries Network and the United Voices trade union released a report on the working condition of shopping centre cleaners. In the report “Cutting Corners” there are many references to the Bible’s and the Church’s thoughts … Continue reading “Religious wisdom on workplace safety”
Some of Australia’s top work health and safety experts have stressed, to Safe Work Australia, the need for a single national OHS regulator. Many also called for a radical overhaul of workers’ compensation and insurance structures to achieve a combined insurance/compensation similar to that of New Zealand, the Accident Compensation Commission (ACC). These calls were made in a whole … Continue reading “Australian OHS experts call for a single OHS regulator and a unified insurance system”
Safety and risk professionals often need to consider the “worst case scenario”. But we hesitate to look at the worst case scenario of workplace mental health – suicide. On 26 August 2011, Lifeline presented a seminar to Victorian public servants that was brilliant, confronting and worrying. Lifeline campaigns on suicide prevention and it seems to … Continue reading “Suicide challenges the OHS profession”