Recently one of the Australian boutique labour law firms ran a seminar on employment issues related to migrant workers. Australia has a history of using workers from the Pacific Islands, principally, in agriculture. Chinese have been working in Australia since the goldfields of the 1800s. New Zealanders are so frequent that the countries almost share … Continue reading “Migrant worker safety”
At the Safety In Action Conference in Melbourne last week the CEO Of WorkSafe Victoria, John Merritt, told the delegates that over the coming weeks and months we will see the following: The “Homecomings” series of workplace safety ads have been purchased by Washington State and will be broadcast shortly. Merritt expects the campaign to … Continue reading “WorkSafe Victoria’s plans for the future”
On 30 March 2009, WorkSafe Victoria released a suggested traffic management plan for forklift trucks. It basically reiterates the regulators calls over many years of separating pedestrian walkways from traffic areas. WorkSafe is, justifiably, concerned over this type of workplace machinery and the risks presented by its inappropriate use, as seen by its response to … Continue reading “Forklift truck safety marketing”
There have been several incidents recently that illustrate the unenviable pressures on inspectors and Australian OHS regulators. The Tasmanian Coroner found that the mining inspectorate of Workplace Standards Tasmania was “inadequate” and incapable of “of carrying out its core function of inspecting and enforcing best safety practices within the mining industry.” Two inspectors for that … Continue reading “Role of OHS Inspectors”
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”
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”
There is a strong campaign to improve the level of professionalism in occupational health and safety in Australia. Several safety-related bodies have achieved this already by being far-sighted and progressive, others have not. Concerns over the inconsistency of health and safety advice spurred WorkSafe Victoria to coordinate the establishment of a Health & Safety Professionals … Continue reading “Should the OHS Profession be Regulated?”