CSG Posts
Kevin Jones zoomed in again this year, because he is currently working on Norfolk Island. It's great that we have flexibilty now with our hybrid events so that both Speaker and attendees can be anywhere in the country or even overseas - we have certainly expanded since the early days of being focussed around the Melbourne CBD.
Kevin Jones' horizons are very wide too: his wonderfully enquiring mind means he is always exploring OHS issues through the latest thinking and research in a range of publications, not always directly related to OHS. He also draws on his own experiences to delve into topics, such as what leadership looks like in safety.
Kevin provoked our thinking with a number of questions and ideas, such as, Is leadership a quality or a title? When it comes to titles, what does Team Leader really mean? Is it just jargon to deflect from accountability? As always, Kevin pulled no punches when discussing his thoughts on this important topic.
The talk included his reviews of 12 recent publications that look very interesting. One of the attendees commented on the fact that they often read and buy many of Kevin's recommendations, so clearly this is a highlight of Kevin's presentations.
Financial members may wish to catch up with a couple of recent presentations relevant to Kevin's talk: In May last year Rob Dival spoke about How do OHS Professionals leverage power and influence tactics?, and in February this year Helen O'Keefe spoke about the qualities recruiters look for in executive leaders in her presentation What makes a great OHS executive. Login in first to view both of those.
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The large turnout of both financial members and non-members to this presentation confirmed what we already suspected: this topic is of great interest to the OHS community. The small room was full and the Zoom was overflowing.
Dr Natassia (Tas) Goode coped well with the few technical hitches we experienced as she discussed changes to the OHS Act that strengthen and clarify the need for employers to manage both physical and psychological health through the introduction of the Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations 2025 which came into effect on 1 December last year.
Tas is Director of the new Psychological Health Division at WorkSafe Victoria, so we were privileged to have this opportunity to hear from such a high-level representative from the Regulator.
When discussing risk management there was no real new information - assessment must be proactive, organisation-wide and include consultation with employees. A bullying case study was used to demonstrate the risk management process, although fatigue was specifically mentioned in inspector site visits. The 16 psychosocial hazards listed are consistent with the Safe Work Australia list.
Of more interest was hearing about WorkSafe’s compliance and enforcement approach and the role of inspectors. It was good to see the wide range of levers available to inspectors to educate people and influence change with a strong emphasis on the provision of information and resources.
Tas stressed that, where surveys are used, they must be validated. She referred to a list of free validated surveys, but emphasised that they should not be the only form of consultation. The topic of surveys came up during the extensive and lively discussion that followed the presentation –all of this is included in the recording of the event.
Tas outlined a whole range of FREE resources, tools and support available from WorkSafe Victoria for every range of business. She also talked about WorkSafe grants for industry trials and communities of practice, as well as a free time-limited program for 300 SMEs. Get in quickly!
Financial members may also be interested to re-visit our presentation from May 2024, where a WorkSafe panel discussed Psychological health & safety at work (login first).
Our thanks to Tas and to WorkSafe Victoria for providing this speaker and for their ongoing support as a corporate member of CSG.
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One of the great aspects of the OHS community is how we are there to help each other and share our knowledge. This is one of the fundamental purposes of Central Safety Group and was exemplified in this presentation. The APHIRM toolkit is a free resource that has been designed to support organisations through a full cycle of MSD risk management.
APHIRM stands for A Participative Hazard Identification and Risk Management and was launched in 2019 after many years of research and refinement. Dr Jodi Oakman talked about how research has developed while current strategies haven't kept up with it, particularly in relation to psychosocail hazards. The APHIRM toolkit is a way to address that gap.
The focus is on early intervention and commences with a detailed survey. Jodi asked attendees to do the survey at one point in the session so that we could see it for ourselves. She also showed us what the toolkit looks like and what to expect when using it. There is a logical set of steps that includes the generation of reports and data to measure ongoing improvements.
There were quite a few questions and discussion after the formal presentation. Christina Rennick from St Vincents Hospital shared their experience with using the toolkit within their food services section. She noted that there had been some very positive feedback from the workers who participated. Worker participation is one of the key components of the toolkit, and Jodi talked about how it differs from consultation.
Throughout the presentation Jodi empahasised the practical nature of the toolkit and you could feel how inspired attendees were by this very important addition to our knowledge. Jodi referred us to the website where, amongst other things, one can find case studies and information about full-day workshops run by the Centre for Ergonomics and Human Factors, La Trobe University in the CBD. The next one is on 19th May. www.aphirm.org.au
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At our AGM in February 2026, Nan Austin formally stepped down from the role of President that she had held since 2021. Luckily for us, she didn’t go too far: she is now Central Safety Group’s Treasurer!
During her 5 years as President, Nan made a significant contribution to the group. Her first achievement was to lead us into becoming an Incorporated Association, which has defined the goals and function of our association better, and protects members from legal action.
She also instigated more involvement from the committee – we now meet monthly via zoom, where we discuss upcoming events, how we can build CSG’s profile, offer more to members and improve engagement.
Prior to joining the CSG Committee, Nan was a long-time and active financial member, whose experience in OHS was sought after by others in our network. When she was Manager, Work Health and Safety at Red Cross Lifeblood, she organised a fascinating Site Visit for us at their newly-opened Blood Processing Centre in West Melbourne.
She was absent from our shores between 2016-2019 when she took up the post as Manager, Health and Safety at the University of Waikato on New Zealand’s North Island. When she returned, she didn’t hesitate to share with us her eye-opening experiences there in a presentation in November 2019. She later contributed a shortened video version of the presentation as part of our “CSG Talks” series in 2020 when normal physical meetings were suspended. You can re-visit that talk here.
Nan’s foray into the world of OHS began at the University of Melbourne in the 1980s, where she was a health and safety representative in the early days of the OHS Act. Her more formal move into safety was also at the University of Melbourne when SafetyMAP accreditation became a requirement of their workers compensation self-insurance.
Since then, Nan enjoyed an extensive career as a safety (and workers compensation) manager and auditor in state, national and international roles. Nan told me that she preferred CSG membership as AHIS did not recognise her Certificate IV in OHS for full membership. Her other significant qualifications include a Masters in Business Administration and a Masters in Business (Personal Injury Management).
At her farewell speech at our 2025 December networking lunch, Nan acknowledged the huge improvements in workplace health and safety since the 1980s, particularly the broadening focus that includes more psychosocial hazards beyond bullying and harassment. This change has brought in more females to what had, in the past, been a more traditional male role focusing on the physical hazards of the workplace.
Nan’s decision to step down from the Presidency was precipitated by her pending retirement from the world of safety. This will allow her more time to enjoy her other pursuits and interests, particularly as a volunteer at the Kensington Stockyard Food Garden and the Kensington Neighbourhood House. There is a clear pattern of community service in all that Nan does.
She will also have more time to travel and enjoy what nature has to offer in both Australia and the rest of the world. Well done, Nan, you deserve it, and thank you for all you have done for Central Safety Group!
To contact Nan, go to www.linkedin.com/in/nan-austin-41b2a025
For those looking to progress to an Executive level in their OHS career, this presentation is essential viewing. Helen went into a lot of detail about the qualities and skills sought in these roles, and they go well beyond mere technical capability.
She delved into the sorts of questions one would expect in an interview or that one should ask when seeking a suitable candidate. Questions such as "Can they drive change?" and "How can they exert influence?"
Helen's extensive experience is so valuable and this was evident when she gave a wealth of advice on how to position oneself, including how to translate OHS into financial language that will resonate with potential employers.
Helen also presented an analysis of the current job market for Executive positions, based on data from Seek and LinkedIn. She said that such positions are as easy to find as a polar bear in a snowstorm! However, they are still out there, particularly in the field of construction. Queensland is top of the leaderboard.
Helen's talk sparked a lot of discussion afterwards, most of which is captured in the recording.
As always, Helen's presentation provided fascinating insights and was a great way to kick off the year. Those of us in the room also enjoyed meeting up in person, thanks to Helen's generous sponsorship of our event venue, the Regus Yarra Room with its wonderful view from the top floor of 120 Collins Street.
As of this year Financial members have 2 options for catching up with presentations, either through the video or the audio version, a new feature we have introduced for those who like to listen to podcasts. Your feedback about this would be gratefully received.
Related to this month's topic, Financial members may also be interested in revisitng the presentation from Rob Dival in May 2025 How do OHS Professionals leverage power and influence tactics?
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The 2025 Annual General Meeting took place on Tuesday 10 February, 2026. The biggest news is that there have been some significant resignations from the Committee: Nan Austin & Cameron Cranstoun have stepped down from their Executive positions of President & Treasurer respectively, and Dominic Melling has also resigned as an ordinary committee member.
While we are very sad to see them go, there is such a talent pool within the committee and amongst our membership, that we continue to have a strong committee willing and able to work hard to advance the group. The 2026 committee consists of:
President – Christina Rennick
Vice President – Craig Ramadge (also Social Media Co-ordinator)
Treasurer - Nan Austin
Secretary – Rob D’Elsini
Ordinary Members:
Gavin Kenny
Jane Loudon (Events Co-ordinator)
Marina Milankovic (Membership Co-ordinator)
Rwth Stuckey
While Cameron & Dominic are no longer on the committee, they both remain Financial members and continue to offer their support to the group, for which we are truly grateful.
Cameron has been our Treasurer since 2017 and proved to be extremely diligent, methodical and capable. He leaves us with our finances in a very strong position.
Dominic joined the committee in 2022 and has been highly valued for his contributions to finding speakers, developing topics and even delivering a presentation himself in 2024.
Nan Austin became President in 2021 and has made a big impact on the group. She was the driver behind us becoming an Incorporated Association and more involvement from the committee. She was always looking at how we could build our profile, offer more to members and improve engagement. During her time we have seen a more than 50% increase in membership and the addition of 5 Corporate Members. We are very happy that she remains on the committee and has even stepped into the role of Treasurer.
The committee gave Nan a gift at the December lunch, but we also marked her final day as President at the AGM with a bunch of tulips -a fitting gesture for this enthusiastic gardener.
Our sincere thanks to Nan, Cameron & Dominic for their service; congratulations to Christine & Craig for your elevation to the roles of President & Vice President; and welcome to Rwth Stuckey! It is sure to be another great year ahead for CSG.
We urge you to contribute as well - make contact any time with your thoughts and ideas, particularly about any topics/speakers that interest you. You can This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. any time - your feedback is always appreciated.
Log in to view the Minutes, Annual Report and Financial Statement.
We tried something new this year by holding our annual networking lunch at the Angliss Conference Centre in La Trobe Street and what a successful event it was! A great venue where we had the large room all to ourselves, making it very relaxed and easy to mingle. The food was abundant and delicious - buffet style, so no-one went hungry - and the service was excellent.
On Wednesday the 10th December 2025 Central Safety Group welcomed almost 30 guests, comprising mostly financial members and the CSG committee. It was wonderful to meet up face-to-face, especially with those we had only seen on Zoom previously.
Our President, Nan Austin, gave a short speech in which she confirmed that she will not be re-nominating for the role of President in 2026. On behalf of the Committee, Vice-President Christina Rennick, spoke about Nan's many contributions to CSG and presented her with a Poynton's gift voucher, as Nan is a keen gardener.
It is thanks to our Financial members and Corporate members that we are able to host this important networking event each year.
We received a lot of positive feedback about the 2025 event, so we are planning to return to the Angliss Conference Centre this year. Make sure you don't miss out!
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Happy New Year and welcome to another great year of presentations by expert speakers!
Before they kick off in February, we have a gift for everyone on our mailing list. Enjoy free access to the video of one of our 2025 highlights: David Caple’s presentation about new manual handling initiatives.
Simple safety solutions can make a huge difference for those working in important community settings. Retail, childcare and library workplaces are the focus of this very watchable and thought-provoking talk by highly respected and renowned OHS expert David Caple AM.
You can view it on the CSG YouTube channel
All monthly presentations are free for financial members, and available for a small fee for others to attend or view later online. Last year’s offerings included:
Dr Tristan Casey: The rights and wrongs of safety comms
Rob Dival: Leveraging OHS power & influence
Jane Skillen: Fatigue management in a high-risk environment
Join today to ensure you don’t miss out on any of this year’s events. Meanwhile, please enjoy this taste of the high-calibre presentations on offer and we look forward to seeing you during 2026.
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/
We had a wonderful final presentation for 2025, given by Jane Skillen, OHS Adviser for Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine (VIFM) and a CSG member.
Jane commenced her presentation with a brief introduction of VIFM’s 24/7 services to both deceased and living persons. VIFM also oversees the Donor Tissue Bank and contributes to international and domestic research programs.
Her informative fatigue management case study was based on the state-wide clinical forensic medicine team, who respond to physical assault examinations, fitness for interview assessments and traffic blood testing. Within this team the Forensic Nurse Examiners (FNE) are a 100% casual workforce, most with secondary nursing employment. Eighty percent are female, with the majority aged between 40-60 years.
While WorkSafe has a very specific definition of work-related fatigue, VIFM now applies a wider multi-dimensional definition to include mental, physical and emotional fatigue. This was done after exploring the factors contributing to fatigue at work using a robust strategic risk-based approach, in consultation with the FNEs. Jane’s presentation delves deeply into this risk assessment and the control measures introduced to manage the risks associated with fatigue impairment in FNEs.
Feedback from the presentation:
“Sensational piece of work Jane!”
“Valuable presentation and thank you very much for sharing. Your colleagues do some amazing work under such extraordinary circumstances. Great learnings for us.”
I wholeheartedly agree with that feedback; I really liked the education material and focus on self-care.
Financial members can gain further advcie on fatigue management from David Caple's presentation in 2016, Managing fatigue: getting it right, in the Speakers archive (log in first).
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There isn't a day that goes by where AI isn't a topic for conversation, so it was refreshing to hear about how it can be used for good, not evil! John Ansley's engaging presentation demonstrated how you can take safety instructions beyond a mere compliance exercise using his product Knowby Pro, which harnesses AI to create videos that present information in a clear and concise way.
When speaking about the issues his product aims to address, John made reference to Cognitive Load Theory that deals with how the human brain takes in and stores information. Bite-sized information is apparently more effective as a general rule and not just for those of us with a diminishing attention span!
John emphasisied the importance of collaboration as a guiding principle. This is a feature in both the creation of "knowbys" tailored to each organisation and the ability to provide feedback about the product. In fact, John is always happy to receive feedback and ideas on how to make Knowby Pro work better for users. This has led to the development of new capabilities, including ways to capture data to ensure and demonstrate compliance
The most fascinating aspect of the presentation was the live demonstration of how to create knowbys from an existing video as well as from a 16-page pdf document. John spruiked their offer of a 30-day free trial so that you can try it out for yourself: https://www.knowby.co/.
Our very own Gavin Kenny contributed to the presentation by talking about how he uses the product at his own workplace. He showed some great examples, including how he created a knowby for contractors changing over their huge bins. Those of us who attended the Opal site visit in July could really appreciate the challenges in that workplace, and so it was very interesting to learn how some of these are being addressed with the Knowby Pro digital tool.
Gavin has presented to us in the past and is renowned for his approach to using technology in the workplace: keep it simple and make it work for you. You can view his presentation from May 2021, Using technology to make work safer, in the Speakers archive (log in first).
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David Caple AM joined us for his annual presentation on human factors and ergonomics. As always, there was a great turnout, because he is a great speaker full of insights. As a member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of Australia, David shared the web address www.hfehub.au where there are really interesting podcasts available for all.
David split his presentation into 3 industry groups, bringing his own personal insights into the safety challenges in these changing environments.
He uses observation and conversation with workers, rather than checklists, to review a workplace. As work demands change in these industries, standard equipment and processes of work used for many years are now safety hazards. A great question David shared with us is to ask ‘Why now?’
David’s presentation includes a host of pictorial examples of hazards, as well as many practical examples of simple changes that can be made to improve safety. These changes can be used across many industries, jobs and at home – we could all use a pick–up stick at home!
Financial members can also view his presentation videos from previous years by logging in, then clicking on the Speakers tab and searching for David Caple.
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Kevin Jones has alerted us to an upcoming event on September 16: From the Eight-Hour Day to the Four-Day Week: Book Launch and Discussion
Join union leaders and historian Sean Scalmer in discussion of his new book, A Fair Day's Work: The Quest to Win Back Time (Melbourne University Press).
Time and Place: 6pm, Tuesday 16 September, Solidarity Hall, Victorian Trades Hall, 54 Victoria St, Carlton.
To be launched by Michele O'Neil, President ACTU. In conversation with: Imogen Sturni, Branch Secretary, Victorian Branch Secretary, ASU Private Sector Branch & Madeleine Harradence, State Secretary, ANMF Victorian Branch
This is a free event -book your spot through this Eventbrite link
The MUP website describes the book as a revealing look at the contemporary crisis of work-life imbalance.
The length of the working day and the challenges of work-life balance are pressing issues for many Australians, as well as lively matters of public controversy. While the winning of the eight-hour day is celebrated as a past industrial achievement, contemporary discussions of working hours often overlook its rich history.
Tracing 150 years of campaigns for rights and for the fair distribution of productivity gains, historian Sean Scalmer shows how these movements successfully reduced the length of the standard working week from 60 to 38 hours per week, and how economic, social and political shifts since the early 1980s have stalled this long-term progress. Today, industrial laws provide inadequate protection for excessive hours, and Australian women increasingly shoulder long hours of paid work with the bulk of unpaid domestic labour.
As debate over our working lives intensifies amid ongoing political, economic and technological challenges, Scalmer's labour of love on the history of work and play affords us a way to understand the past so we can win back our time collectively.
Sean Scalmer is a professor of history at the University of Melbourne and a fellow of the Academy of Social Science in Australia. He researches the history of social movements and democracy, considering both the national history of Australia and trans-national and comparative histories.
CSG members enjoyed a terrific site visit to the Opal facility in South Oakleigh. We had great weather, a fascinating venue and a wonderful tour guide in Chris Coon, Operations Manager for Opal. Chris has been with the company for 10 years and he loves his job. Not only does he have the opportunity to travel the world in search of new ideas and technologies, but he also revels in the creative possibilities that these new technologies offer.
He enthusiastically demonstrated some of the machinery in the facility; laser cutters and digital printers are spread out in the huge manufacturing area, which is full of light and displays some of the amazing and colourful products that these machines can produce. There are even artworks on the wall made by staff (including Chris) using the digital printers.
Chris took us into a cardboard house that was built for a trade show - everything in it, except the lighting, is made of cardboard and it is structurally sound! Inside is a wide range of products that they produce for clients.
Another project made for an expo was the cardboard bar that you can see in this photo. Again, everything is made of cardboard, including the “brass” rails. The counter felt very solid.
CSG Committee Member Gavin Kenny was on hand with other members of the safety team to answer questions about hazards and control measures. While the new machines include innovations to reduce manual handling, that is still the primary hazard in other parts of the processing. The team is working towards an Opal standard across their various sites in Australia & New Zealand to manage this and other risks.
It was a real eye-opening experience as well as a great opportunity to catch up with other CSG members in person.
Thank you, Gavin, for organising the visit, and thank you, Chris for being such a marvellous guide.
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