Rethinking OHS Futures: Why Canada’s 2040 Forecast Should Jolt Australia
Canada’s Institute for Work & Health has released Work & Health 2040, outlining seven forces reshaping work: collapsing trust in institutions; demographic change; climate disruption; algorithmic management; social isolation; rising hostility, and the expansion of precarious work. None of these trends is new, but together they signal an OHS system facing deep structural strain.
The report calls for rebuilding trust, strengthening protections, embedding equity, preparing for technological disruption, supporting mental health, securing digital systems and protecting precarious workers. The challenge is that most of these levers sit outside the control of individual employers. They require political will, economic investment and cultural change—conditions that are far from guaranteed.
Global instability complicates the picture. The United States, under President Trump, continues to disrupt international norms that countries like Australia have long relied on. Economic constraints limit investment in prevention and climate-resilient infrastructure, while rapid technological adoption risks outpacing regulation. Declining institutional trust and weakened union influence further erode the collective power needed to drive reform.
For Australia, the lesson is clear: we need a Plan B. The pandemic exposed the fragility of global supply chains and reminded us who the essential workers are. While trade and security ties with the US will remain, Australia can still chart its own course on workplace safety, governance and prevention.
OHS is more than a compliance exercise—it’s an opportunity to improve our society in a time of great political change.
Kevin Jones https://safetyatworkblog.com/
