Jeff Sparrow recently gained considerable media attention with his book that reflected on violence in society. Yossi Berger once described occupational health and safety as a “kind of violence” in his book of that title. There is a lot of research into occupational violence, much of it from the United States which, to some extent, has an unrepresentative view of … Continue reading “Dipping into workplace violence”
Australia is a Federation of States. This does not just mean that each State is a different colour of the schoolroom map. Each State has its own duties to its citizens from within the overall scheme of running a country. There has always been a tension between the two levels of government and currently the management of health care … Continue reading “A consistent approach to developing public policy is required”
It is very hard to be an OHS professional and not feel like one is part of the “nanny state” approach to personal choice. There is a fundamental disconnection between the responsibilities on business for a safe workplace and the responsibilities on an individual to make themselves safe at work. When the work processes are … Continue reading “The need for a safety philosopher”
Following two short messages from international representatives of the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) and the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), the Governor of Victoria, Professor David de Kretser AC, officially opened the Safety In Action Conference for 2009. The Governor made several pleas or suggestions. One was for the application of … Continue reading “Safety In Action Conference – Part One”