One of my colleagues has described her role in a corporation as an “irritant”. She is responsible for quality, environment, risk and OHS – all of those required business elements that companies will avoid or ignore if they could. Her company acknowledges that these elements are necessary and values her role and efforts. OHS … Continue reading “It’s not what you do, it’s the way that you do it”
A recent article in a rehabilitation newsletter reminded me of a client from several years ago. Several employees in a small item packaging line were reporting wrist and forearm soreness toward the end of their shift. They believed that the line speed was too fast for them to comfortably work their full shift. In consultation … Continue reading “When employees are their worst enemy.”
Some time ago WorkSafe Victoria issued Compliance Codes on a number of workplace safety issues. One was concerning First Aid. The Compliance Codes were intended to replace Codes of Practice which had been around for decades. The previous major change to workplace first aid was in 1995 when the First Aid Code of Practice was … Continue reading “Flawed first aid information”
The July 25 2007 SafetyAtWork podcast is now available for download. It includes an interview with Michael Licenblat where we discuss the psychological approach to individuals taking control of their own safety, the benefits of wellbeing programs and the changing workplace. On listening back to the podcast today, I was struck by several issues he … Continue reading “Resilience, stress and safety management”
Many OHS professionals and business gurus state that safety leadership must come from the top of the corporate tree. BHP Billiton received some rare positive press on 16 June 2009 concerning its OHS policies. According to Mark Hawthorne, BHP CEO Marius Kloppers has revealed he is battling “pig flu”, in his words. This seems to … Continue reading “BHP, swine flu and leave entitlements”
The trade union movement is an important element in the management of safety in workplaces but over the last twenty years, with the exception of a couple of industry sectors, the membership numbers have waned. Until recently in Australia, the union movement was able to maintain a level of influence in the government decision-making process … Continue reading “Does union presence improve OHS?”
Working alone is an established workplace hazard in many industries. The control measure most applied is “don’t work alone” that is, undertake as many work tasks in isolated location with someone supervising or in close contact. Modern technology has often been applied as a possible control measure – “deadman switch”, GPS tracking, mobile phone use. … Continue reading “Working alone – a poorly understood work hazard”