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Occupational Medicine provides OHS clues

Medical research rarely provides definitive answers to occupational hazards. What research provides are clues. These clues lead to additional research which, over time, can generate answers and solutions. But OHS specialists often do not have the luxury of waiting for an answer before taking some action to reduce risk and harm and often the clues are enough to take action or at least begin planning that action.

The Journal of the Society of Occupational Medicine is a treasure trove of clues. Below are some of those clues that may help OHS professionals in controlling hazards and anticipating others.

Man flu and stress

One team of researchers in Korea[1] has identified

“Males experiencing work stress in job demand, job control and social support reported an increased occurrence of the common cold at follow-up but this association was not seen in females.”

As stress is an increasingly important element of workplace health and safety, this research indicates that what some are dismissing as “man flu” may have some validity as stressor indicators. Continue reading “Occupational Medicine provides OHS clues”

WorkSafe media director, Bernie Dean, talks about the new awards strategy

SafetyAtWorkBlog has been vocal on the need for Australia OHS awards to be reinvigorated, freshened up and re-booted. WorkSafe Victoria launched a new interactive approach to its State awards several months ago with the intention of engaging the community and trying to maintain a momentum for the award process throughout the year.

In an exclusive interview in July 2011, WorkSafe Victoria’s Director of Communications, Bernie Dean, told SafetyAtWorkBlog that changes to the award process was essential because, amongst other reasons, there was a slow steady decline in the number of applications and a fall in the number of suitable applications. He acknowledged that some of the extensions of application deadlines in previous years have been due to insufficient numbers of applications. He also said that the assessment or judging process had become overly long and bureaucratic but having applications available throughout the year should help. Continue reading “WorkSafe media director, Bernie Dean, talks about the new awards strategy”

Targeting the most dangerous industries but not those with the most deaths

On 4 July 2011, WorkSafe Victoria released a media notice entitled “WorkSafe to target state’s most dangerous industries“. (The title of the media release currently available on-line has been changed from “dangerous” to “risky”.) Below are the industries that WorkSafe considers the most dangerous:

Food manufacturing and processing,
wood product manufacturing,
fabricated metal,
transport equipment manufacturing,
plastics and rubber manufacturing,
road transport,
warehousing and storage and
residential aged care services.

WorkSafe advised SafetyAtWorkBlog on 4 July, that these eight industries were chosen as the targets for an OHS enforcement blitz because in 2010 these sectors generated 7,075 workers’ compensation claims. 2,808 of the claims related to manual handling injuries. Continue reading “Targeting the most dangerous industries but not those with the most deaths”

Do OHS workshops work?

Years ago I was invited to speak at a safety conference and to conduct a workshop. I cocked up the workshop and realised that my conference presentation would need considerable reworking. This experience made me shy of speaking engagements for a while but has provided me with a lasting suspicion on conference workshops.

At several conferences recently what was promoted as a presentation by a subject matter expert turned into a workshop where the presenter seeks the wisdom of the audience, the inverse of what should have occurred. Some enjoy the participation of others in this format but I find better networking and brainstorming occurs in a less formal setting. My advice is if you enter an auditorium and there is butcher’s paper anywhere in the room, leave.

However, practical workshops linked to safety conferences seem to be gaining in popularity, perhaps because they are easy to administer and promise little more than a “learning experience” where learning is often optional. Continue reading “Do OHS workshops work?”

New workplace bullying reference group established

Queensland’s Education and Industrial Relations Minister, Cameron Dick, has always been a strong critic of school bullying but now he has focussed on workplace bullying.

According to Minister Dick’s media release on 10 July 2011 the government is setting up a special reference group to examine workplace bullying. A spokesperson for the minister told SafetyAtWorkBlog that the membership of the reference group is unlikely to be finalised.

The Minister is quoted as saying.

“Queensland currently has existing laws to address workplace bullying and protect workers from harassment and the time is right to review these laws….I am establishing a workplace bullying reference group to look into the incidence of bullying and strategies to prevent bullying in Queensland workplaces.

The reference group will consist of senior worker and employer representatives, as well as legal and academic experts. Continue reading “New workplace bullying reference group established”

Government department fined $285k over prison van death

In January 2011 WorkSafe indicated its intention to prosecute the Department of Corrective Services and others in relation to death of Mr Ward. A $A285,000 penalty was imposed on 7 July 2011.

SafetyAtWorkBlog reported on the WorkSafe actions at the time but an excellent clearinghouse for information on this case is the website of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Four Corners program which examined the 2008 death of Mr Ward in Western Australia.

The Four Corners website has a considerable amount of background information on the case, including the coroner’s findings, which some readers may find confronting and, as the ABC says “This report contains images of the deceased which may disturb Aboriginal viewers”.

Mr Ward was being transported to Perth in the rear of a prison transport vehicle following a traffic offence. The vehicle’s air-conditioning system was not operating, the temperature within the rear of the vehicle increased so much in the Western Australian heat that, according to one commentator, Mr Ward was “cooked”. When Mr Ward’s body was being removed from the prison van at the hospital “the air from the van was “…like a blast from a furnace”” according to one witness. The coroner found that “no effective air-conditioning was being supplied to the rear pod of the vehicle.”

There are many management issues involved with this unnecessary death but some will be familiar. Continue reading “Government department fined $285k over prison van death”

Safety Institute expulsion raises questions about fairness

John Lambert has been expelled from the Safety Institute of Australia (SIA). This is a fact that the SafetyAtWorkBlog would not usually report on due to privacy concerns but Lambert has already brought his expulsion to the attention of his occupational health and safety colleagues through various online discussion forums and has agreed to answer the questions below.

A quick background to his expulsion is that there was considerable debate in some sections of the Safety Institute of Australia about disciplinary action being taken against a Victorian Committee Member, Phillip Kamay. Many members, including John Lambert, saw an injustice and expressed opinions and advice, often, in email and on SIA discussion forums. It appears that Lambert overstepped the boundaries of criticism in some correspondence and complaints were lodged with the SIA

The National President of the Safety Institute of Australia, Sue Pilkington, has repeatedly promised answers to five questions about John Lambert’s expulsion for almost two weeks. No answers have yet been received but will be incorporated into this blog posts, if, and when, received.

Lambert answered some questions from us pertaining to his expulsion. Below is a slightly edited version of his response: Continue reading “Safety Institute expulsion raises questions about fairness”

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Occupational Medicine provides OHS clues

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WorkSafe media director, Bernie Dean, talks about the new awards strategy

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Targeting the most dangerous industries but not those with the most deaths

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Do OHS workshops work?

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New workplace bullying reference group established

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Government department fined $285k over prison van death

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Safety Institute expulsion raises questions about fairness

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