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Dummies can equal clarity
It took a long time but Wiley has published a Dummies guide on Health and Safety At Work. The lack of an occupational health and safety (OHS) book in this series has always been a mystery particularly...
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Inconsistent quad bike safety advice in WA
On 18 January 2017, WorkSafeWA released an agricultural safety checklist which includes some hazards associated with quad bike operations. West Australia’s occupational health and safety (OHS)...
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Outsourcing inductions may not support good safety management
SafetyAtWorkBlog has been critical of the use and sale of generic Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS) for work tasks that can be managed through simpler and freely available job safety analyses (JSAs)...
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More work needed on public evacuation protocols
On 12 July 2017 a kitchen fire broke out in a densely packed restaurant and cafe sector of Melbourne, Australia. This article illustrates some of the localised response and firefighting attempts....
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Prosecution over fallen tree threatens small business viability
A recent occupational health and safety (OHS) prosecution in New Zealand illustrates many issues and attitudes to safety held by small business operators around the world. Copyright: WorkSafeNZ...
View ArticleNew farming incident statistics
The latest statistics of farm injuries from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare provide a useful insight in to the workplace risks of Australian farms. Given the workplace focus of the...
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Concerns over ISO45001 voiced but no details provided
The publication date for the first truly international Standard on occupational health and safety (OHS) management systems, ISO45001, the rhetoric is heating up in Australia. ISO45001 is due for...
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Business Bullshit – and how this relates to workplace health and safety
This is an edited version of my presentation to delegates at the inaugural NSW Regional Safety Conference & Expo in Newcastle, Australia on March 17, 2018. The current approach to occupational...
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A WorkCover book that works
Many consultants publish books on the understanding that a published work provides legitimacy and authority to their advice. Sometimes these books are vanity productions but increasingly, and...
View ArticleA bad day for ACCI at the Senate Inquiry into Industrial Deaths
Jennifer Low, Associate Director of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry addressed the Senate Inquiry into Industrial Deaths in Perth on August 30 2018. Much of her presentation would be...
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Is OHS suffering from policy AND structural capture?
The Grattan Institute has released a report about the political influence of lobbyists. Understandably the media is giving the report a lot of attention, particularly as it identifies lobby groups...
View ArticleMultidisciplinary analysis of safety culture
Managing occupational health and safety (OHS) is most successful when it considers a range of perspectives or disciplines in identifying practicable solutions. Books are often successful in a similar...
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Two exemptions to Victoria’s Industrial Manslaughter laws
Every industry sector should have its own occupational health and safety (OHS) conference. This allows for specific OHS topics to be presented but also provides for a broader context. The recent...
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Mental Health Issues Paper provides opportunity for OHS to pitch for legitimacy
Australia’s Productivity Commission (PC) has released its first Issues Paper to assist people in understanding the purposes of the Inquiry and to lodge a submission. The Report provides opportunities...
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AS/NZS ISO45001:2018 status update
Australia, as are many other countries, is in the transition phase for the latest Standard for Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems – ISO45001. The Standard has been accepted by Australia...
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In an industry where there are no employers, who is responsible for workplace...
The Victorian Government has been running an inquiry for a little while on the “on-demand workforce”, a term which seems to be a synonym for the gig economy. The government recently extended the...
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Robbing Peter to pay Paul – the “WorkSafe Tax” is challenged
More details of the “WorkSafe Tax” and WorkSafe Victoria’s new infringement notices and specialist construction inspectors emerged with the appearance of the Minister for Workplace Safety, Jill...
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Industrial Manslaughter submissions
The issue of Industrial Manslaughter laws continues in Victoria. Several organisations were invited to provide submissions to the Victorian Government’s task force formed to look at the implementation...
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COSBOA is outraged over mental health and jail
On September 24 2019, the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA) called for the withdrawal of the Boland review into Australia’s work health and safety (WHS) laws. In a media...
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Ethics, safety and fingertips
Last week the Australian Institute of Health and Safety (AIHS) launched its Body of Knowledge Chapter on Ethics in Melbourne to a small group of occupational health and safety (OHS) professionals....
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