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?”
Bill Calcutt makes some excellent points about the consultative strategy used by the Australian government in its recent 2020 summit. The summit showed that this government had differentiated itself from the previous conservative one through “transparent evidence-based decision making” and a wide consultative base, even though the guests were selected. Sadly, I am not sure …
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””
Australia's recently announced review into model OHS laws is firmly bound by the tripartite consultative structure formalised by Lord Robens in the early 1970s and comprising government, uniuons and employers. This is a sensbile structure as it involves all of the major influences in Australian workplaces. But just how relevant is it now, thirty years later?