The tenuousness of safety culture

Only a few days ago, SafetyAtWorkBlog questioned the usefulness of vision statements.  A leaked internal memorandum from the structural mechanical process division of John Holland reported in the Australian media on 27 April 2009 shows just how tenuous such statements can be. According to an article in the Australian Financial Review (not available online, page … Continue reading “The tenuousness of safety culture”

Vision statements = hypocrisy (mostly)

 I have experienced two situations recently which made me question the value of corporate mission statements. Recently the CEO of an Australian company spoke about how safety was a core value and how committed to safety she was.   She is a recognised leader in safety and directly involves herself in safety management and meetings. … Continue reading “Vision statements = hypocrisy (mostly)”

Engagement is Consultation re-badged

Recently an international business established an intranet discussion forum concerning “employee engagement”.  By and large, this is another example of business management twaddle. Essentially, when one engages with another, there is discussion, a conversation and the sharing of ideas in a cooperative, positive manner.  In OHS circles this is called “consultation”.  By discussing issues, people … Continue reading “Engagement is Consultation re-badged”

Impressions of Australian safety

At the Safety In Action conference in Melbourne Australia, SafetyAtWorkBlog was able to catchup with John Lacey, a past President of the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health in England.  John has attended ten of the conferences and has some interesting comments on the conference, how Australian safety differs from the UK and who he … Continue reading “Impressions of Australian safety”

Company directors and OHS obligations

Since the final report of Australia’s Review into Model OHS Law, discussion has been remarkably quiet.  The ACTU was scheduled to meet for discussions on the report last Monday and no public statements have been made.  Most of the labour law firms have been quiet also.  It is fair to say that most are trying … Continue reading “Company directors and OHS obligations”

Safety Interviews

A couple of weeks ago I conducted interviews with several speakers in the Safety In Action Conference to be held in Melbourne, Australia at the end of March 2009.  The finalised videos are below. Helen Marshall is Australia’s Federal Safety Commissioner who has a challenging job monitoring major government construction sites. Dr Martyn Newman is … Continue reading “Safety Interviews”

Lessons from a draft medical code of conduct

The safety industry in Australia may be seeking to become a recognised profession but, as with most business processes, continuous improvement is an important element of remaining current. The Australian Medical Council has released a revised draft code of conduct with which several members of the Australian Medical Association (AMA) disagree. According to an AMA media … Continue reading “Lessons from a draft medical code of conduct”