CSG Posts
On a windy, wet Tuesday in July, intrepid members of Central Safety Group attended a site visit to Melbourne & Olympic Parks –it was just like being at Wimbledon!
Fortunately for the group, hosts Scott and Glen had special security clearance to use the below ground corridors. It provided protection from the rain as well as the opportunity to view operations unavailable to the average person. Recent improvements have included the completion of these large corridors underneath the venues, enabling cars and trucks to move around without encountering members of the public.
The group was also fascinated to learn how they manage the risk of multiple teams and contractors dismantling huge sets and stages in short periods of time, including the use of movable stages and overhead tracking. The collaborative work that has to done between the site teams and contractor teams is enormous. While the group was there, workers were in the process of removing the ice rink from Disney on Ice.
Due to the weather and size of the precinct (a total of 44 hectares), members could not visit all the venues, but there may be an opportunity to return in the future.
A huge thanks to our hosts Scott McMillan, Director of Safety, and Glen King, Operations Manager, for sharing their knowledge and providing an excellent tour for our members.
View Report with Photos
members only, please login first.
Dr Narelle Beer has appeared regularly in SafetyAtWorkBlog articles. Her most recent public appearance was at the Australian Institute of Health and Safety national conference. No more is Dr Beer WorkSafe Victoria’s Executive Director Health and Safety.
In an email to WorkSafe staff, dated June 5 2024, CEO Joe Calafiore said:
“Narelle was appointed as our Executive Director, Health and Safety in 2021, bringing with her a wealth of expertise from her time in policing, both in Victoria and the Northern Territory. In her time at WorkSafe, Narelle has shown a genuine commitment to keeping Victorian workers safe and has been a passionate advocate for strong regulation that holds those who do not to account.
"On behalf of WorkSafe I thank Narelle for her contribution and wish her all the best for the future.
"With Narelle’s departure, and with the commencement of our new Executive Director of People and Culture Jane Barker in the near future, I have asked Sam Jenkin to lead the Health and Safety Business Unit for the next six months, starting today.”
I only ever met Dr Beer at her public appearances at conferences, seminars and other occupational health and safety events. I first saw her speaking at a lawyer’s breakfast seminar several years ago. Her presentation was a little uncertain, but it did not take long for her to become a polished public speaker to the extent that at last month’s national conference, her twenty-minute presentation was relaxed, confident and flawless.
Additional comment from Central Safety Group's Membership Co-ordinator:
We were honoured to have Dr Narelle Beer as special guest speaker for our 60th anniversary celebration at Parliament House in October 2022. At that time she committed to assisting CSG develop closer ties with WorkSafe Victoria and she was true to that promise.
WorkSafe Victoria is now one of our valued Corporate Members; they are represented at most of our events with several attendees and we have already had speakers from WorkSafe present to us. We join CEO Joe Calafiore in wishing Narelle every success in the future.
Kevin Jones https://safetyatworkblog.com/
It is not often we hear directly from someone who has been involved in a workplace accident -to see that person sitting in a wheelchair tells you straight away that his will be a story with impact. Indeed it was when James Wood aka Woody presented to us on the 11th June.
Woody's presentation raised a few conflicting thoughts for me. For instance, he spoke incredibly well and, for someone who has never been a safety professional, he had some powerful safety messages to share. In fact, that is what he does now: share his story and messages in workplaces all over Australia. However, he began his career as a diesel mechanic and would give anything to have been able to stay in that job he loved. While we were fortunate to have Woody as our speaker, what a terrible cost for him to be in that position.
The other challenging aspect of the talk was Woody's emphasis on personal responsibility. He explained in detail the choices he made on the day of the accident that led to those life-changing events. When talking on the topic of choices, he included those in the workplace who may or may not speak up if they see something wrong. These are all valid points, but there was very little focus on systems failures and management responsibility.
What I found most valuable from Woody's story was the perspective of an injured worker - insights that anyone involved in Return to Work should also hear. There were so many mental as well as physical challenges, and they went well beyond himself. His accident affected his family, work mates and the community. It was eye-opening to learn of the many ramifications and emotions, and it certainly had an impact on the audience on the day.
View Presentation & Full Event Video
members only, please login first.
In May 2024, the Australian Institute of Health and Safety (AIHS) held its national conference in Melbourne. Day One consisted of two long seminars; Two and Three had the more traditional speaker/lecture format. Coinciding, and with a dotted commercial connection to the conference, was a trade show and exhibition, the Work Health and Safety Show. Both events had guest speakers, but one required a paid ticket and the other did not. What also distinguished each was that the conference selects its speakers through a mix of referrals, research, networking and speaker bureaus. The trade show primarily used exhibitors with some invited guests.
From what I saw, several of the psychosocial hazards sessions in the trade show had hundreds of attendees, with many standing in the aisles. The conference had around 500 delegates and one session directly on managing psychosocial hazards. I felt bad for the AIHS until an organisational psychology colleague at the trade show pointed out to me that some of the information provided there was outdated and incorrect.
Another difference between the two events was the quality control of the conference. The trade show offered opportunities to talk, present and promote, but that’s all it did. The conference was more cautious, and it is fair to take its information as more valid, because it selected its speakers.
The conference speakers were not all perfect. One I saw was atrocious and totally misread the audience. Some, as is a perennial risk with OHS conferences, were overly commercial and promotional even though the content was authoritative and valid.
So, which event offered more value? It is an unfair comparison, probably. Previous conferences have offered a much greater range of speakers, topics and themes. In some ways, the AIHS conference was a shell of its former, pre-covid self, but that seems to be the circumstance for all contemporary conferences. The Trade Show exposed a few new products, although apps and software seemed to dominate the exhibitors. If you needed OHS software, the trade show was good, but if your business is already locked into a software product, many exhibitors were irrelevant. The Trade Show speakers were okay within their own context. One panel on the construction industry and mental health with Professor Helen Lingard was very good. Lingard expanded on the research behind the topic much more in the conference.
The information provided during the conference was much more authoritative, with some speakers sparkling. I found Tanya Pelja of BGIS excellent. She presented several OHS initiatives that are only just starting in many Australian companies. She told us what worked for them.
If you can afford it, OHS conferences can offer good content. Trade Shows can offer new OHS things, gadgets and apps. A balance is available, but you must maintain scepticism and critical thinking in both event types.
Kevin Jones https://safetyatworkblog.com/
Both the room and the zoom were packed to the rafters for this event. I think members were not only keen on the topic, but also appreciated the opportunity to interact directly with the Regulator. As one of our Cororate Members, WorkSafe Victoria is a valued partner of Central Safety Group and they were very generous is supplying 3 speakers for this event. They were Madelaine Barry, Program Officer for Psychological Health Programs; Darcy Cooper, Program Manager, WorkWell and Daniel McConville, a Psychosocial Inspector.
The elephant in the room was dealt with straight away: they know as much as we do about when the Psychological Regulations are due to see the light of day. However, they did re-assure us that the information they provided us was considered best practice and, therefore, would still be relevant once the Regulations are released.
They talked through the risk assessment approach and emphasised the need to address potential long-term impacts of this hazard in the workplace; as Madelaine said, "Yoga and a fruit bowl don't cut it!"
They acknowledged that the biggest barrier for many Employers is knowing where to start. This is where WorkSafe offers a range of practical guidance, including the WorkWell toolkit that provides a step-by-step approach. WorkSafe has also formed partnerships to run 13 projects aimed at testing their programs. Our presenters showed us a video (available in the power point) of one such initiative, dealing with shift workers in manufacturing and logistics, that was very interesting.
They concluded that these various projects did indeed validate WorkSafe's programs. Interestingly, even if a program were unsuccessful, the fact that an Employer invested in it still had a positive effect.
There was plenty of discussion after the presentation, especially in the room. Financial members can also view a number of past presentations related to this topic under Speakers in the Members Section (log in first). Just type "psychological" into the Search box.
View Presentation & Full Event Video
members only, please login first.
One of the consequences trotted out to justify occupational health and safety (OHS) management changes and initiatives is that an incident may result in damage to the company’s reputation or the social standing of the owner of the company or employer.
We have a legal system designed to identify whoever is to blame for the incident and allocate a penalty size, cost and type that a person would consider reasonable. However, the OHS legislation states that an employer MUST provide a safe and healthy work environment with an equivocation that the employer only has to do so as far as it is reasonably practicable.
Most of the community has accepted the punishment process of the legal system and, therefore, demands justice if workers are killed or injured. However, lawyers operate in a combative relationship where one aims to prove responsibility and the other aims to prove the innocence of the offender/employer or minimise the penalty that the Courts/judges allocate to the employer. There is an understanding that the outcome of this rigorous process will be fair and acceptable to most of the community. But this is how things operate in the abstract in OHS.
What this process seems to avoid, at least in the understanding of those outside the daily legal processes and institutions, is that employers do not always have the good or the health and safety of workers as their primary consideration, although our OHS legislation assumes employers are all and always good-hearted. Some employers are exploitative and do not always pay employees what they are worth. Workers may be contracted to work a certain number of hours each week for a certain amount of wages, but many employers do not enforce the contracted limit of hours, though they do enforce the amount of remuneration. Why should they, when workers “choose” to work for longer than they get paid, or longer than their health allows or longer than is tolerated by their families at home?
OHS would say that employers should enforce hours, because they are obliged to under the law to prevent physical and psychological harm, and unpaid overtime can generate mental ill health in those workers and increase the anxiety of relatives and families who rely on the workers' presence at home. Some employers claim that workers often choose to work longer than contracted to maximise their wages, to “provide for their family”, but wages usually remain at the same level, although some industries offer occasional overtime and special allowances.
One of the current challenges for OHS professionals and practitioners is to address psychosocial hazards at work, but perhaps a greater challenge is to understand the social elements of those hazards and of work more generally. It is necessary to consider the factors that contribute to work-related harm beyond those directly related to employment and take action to change those contributory factors. We should be asking questions such as:
Those OHS people who are tertiary qualified are likely to be familiar with the social determinants of health, but it is odd that we do not learn or discuss the social determinants of harm, of exploitation, of abuse, greed, disrespect and other relationships that we know harm workers and their families.
A core question we should all be asking is why workers are still dying at work from the same hazards that have always existed when, for almost 40 years in Victoria, employers have been required to provide working environments free from risks to the health and safety of workers. Something is fundamentally amiss and will not change until we start asking the right questions.
Kevin Jones https://safetyatworkblog.com/
I have recently been invited to join the Advisory Committee of SuperFriend which has been collecting data relating to Workplace Mental Health for the last 9 years.
This resulted from an invitation via Dr Niki Ellis who is a Director on the SuperFriend Board and Chair, SuperFriend Expert Advisory Committee based in Sydney. Niki has been a leader in OHS in Australia including as the CEO of ISCRR (The Institute for Safety Compensation and Recovery Research) in Melbourne for many years.
There is a link to their survey analysis at https://www.superfriend.com.au/research/workplace-mental-health-statistics. The Thriving Workplace Survey involved 10,000 Australian workers who completed an online survey in August 2023. This survey contains more than 100 questions about factors known to influence mental health.
These have been collated into five domains – Connectedness, Safety, Leadership, Work Design and Capability. Results included that 38% of workers reported experiencing either high or very high levels of psychological distress in the four weeks prior to completing the survey. Almost one in three workers reported some symptoms of burnout, while one in 20 reported being “completely burned out”.
The research team have a range of projects that are providing inputs to Safe Work Australia, insurance companies and other research bodies in Australia and internationally. Have a look on their website for an interesting range of findings.
David C Caple AM
Director
David Caple and Associates P/L
Troy Winn was such an engaging speaker that you can imagine that he would be a natural when doing an induction. However, that is certainly not the case for many of us, so any tips on how to do so more effectively are certainly welcome.
As part of his Masters degree at La Trobe University, Troy tackled this issue in a really practical way at his own workplace, Simonds Homes, where induction of Supervisors is an important component of the Health & Safety team's responsibilities. The challenges are two-fold: the person conducting the induction may have come from a trades background, where they have acquired a wealth of knowledge, but may not be confident in communicating it. For the person being inducted, their learning style and literacy level may not be suited to absorbing a swathe of information.
To address this, Troy and his team developed a series of short videos (30-60 seconds), each tackling a different topic. There was a lot of trial and error, but, from the three examples Troy showed us, they seem to have created a very effective form of communication. In fact, they come across as much more effective than those expensive, slick videos that are produced by professional companies that often don't ring true. Here they used real people from their own organisation explaining important information in their own words onsite.
What's more, you don't need expensive equipment to produce your own videos - a modern smart phone will produce great results. This was just one of the messages from Troy's presentation that were very inspirational, and could be applied to any workplace.
At the end of Troy's powerpoint, included in the package, there is a long list of references that shows the depth of his research that guided him through this process. And the feedback from their supervisors? Give us more!
View Presentation & Full Event Video
members only, please login first.
Earlier this year, a significant UK research study sparked a wave of discussion on social media. The study's findings, which suggested that corporate wellbeing programs may not be as effective as previously thought, were met with both surprise and concern. While the research did indicate some positive outcomes from volunteering, it was unable to establish a clear link between corporate wellbeing programs and improved worker benefits.
The research findings triggered a range of reactions. Human Resources personnel and professionals, who had invested heavily in occupational wellbeing programs, expressed outrage, while many OHS individuals, who had long held suspicions about the effectiveness of such programs, found their concerns validated. This dichotomy of responses underscores the significance of the research and the potential implications for the future of corporate wellbeing.
Although many Australian jurisdictions have introduced a clear positive duty in their Work Health and Safety laws, the Victorian government is holding onto the set of laws that have been prepared for months and are sitting on the Minister’s desk. This delay is prolonging the inevitable transition phase on laws that will require employers to prevent psychosocial hazards as far as is reasonably practicable.
Most Victorian employers remain confused about these new proposed obligations, preferring to wait until the laws appear before doing anything about psychosocial hazards. This is regardless of their industry colleagues in other jurisdictions already being required to prevent psychosocial harm. Those employers who are aware of these legislative changes, and they are very few, are often in denial. To truly meet these new OHS obligations, they will likely need to change the way they work and the way they manage their workers, and this is frightening to many of them.
Of course, this OHS obligation to workers' mental health is not new. The psychological health of workers has been included in the OHS definition of health for many, many years in Victoria. It’s just that compliance was too hard; employers did not have the necessary tools, and they comfortably felt that their often expensive wellbeing programs were meeting the OHS law’s compliance standards.
Wellbeing never did. Wellbeing does not prevent harm, as the OHS laws require; it only helps manage it. Wellbeing programs were comfortable and non-threatening. Well, that sensation may be changing in Victoria, if, not when, the Minister puts the legislation to Parliament. Don’t hold your breath.
Kevin Jones https://safetyatworkblog.com/
We had a great turnout both online and in the room for the March presentation by Kevin Jones. He covered a range of topics in his usual thought-provoking manner. I think attendees appreciate his approach that doesn't always follow an expected line, and makes us explore the complexities of some of today's OHS challenges.
He talked about the recent WorkSafe awards night and how disappointing it was that psychosocial hazrds were missing as a focus. He also spoke about one of his bugbears: the value of wellbeing programs. In his opinion, it is more important to address systems of work than to offer employees short-term "feel good" options. He recently posted a snippet from The Australian newspaper on this topic on LinkedIn and it sparked a lengthy exchange of views.
Kevin shared his thoughts on the role of OHS advisors within organisations, that there should not be an automatic requirement that they be tertiary educated. After all, guidance from the Authority is supposed to be written so that a lay person can understand it, isn't it?
As always, Kevin is very well read and he reviewed some interesting new publications. These included a book about trouble-making, another on workplace ethics, and the recent book about the construction industry by Michelle Turner and Helen Lingard. Prof. Lingard gave us a presentation on changing OHS culture in construction in October last year. (Financial members can view it here.)
Kevin also alerted us to a free monthly magazine that is published by the European Trade Union Institute -when you subscribe, they post out a hard copy to you. The latest edition features the topic of climate change and workers.
The audience was certainly engaged and there was quite a deal of discussion after the presentation. Those of us in the room were still discussing some of the issues 15 minutes after the recording stopped. Such is the advantage of attending in person and networking face-to-face.
To re-visit Kevin's other presentations from past years, you can do a Search in the Speakers section of our website (log in first).
View Presentation & Full Event Video
members only, please login first.
At Central Safety Group's AGM on 12th February 2024, we were delighted to confer Life Membership on Frank Mistretta.
Frank joined Central Safety Group in 1980 and is proud to have maintained that membership continuously until today. He served on the Committee from 1980 to 1990 and was President from 1988 to 1989.
As President, Frank produced the first newsletter as a means of improving communication to members. This set the ball rolling for future innovations, including Kevin Jones’ excellent Safety Central newsletter that was emailed to members, and the eventual creation of the website, our greatest asset.
.jpg)
When we were collating information about the history of CSG to celebrate our 60th anniversary, Frank sent us some gems, including about his own history in safety:
"I started at Red Tulip Chocolates in the late seventies as a Payroll Manager. In 1980, I provided management with a proposal to computerise the company’s payroll (2000+ employees) and costing system, which would commence showing a profit to the organisation within 12 months by making five positions redundant, including my own. This was approved and implemented, allowing me to take on the new position of Productivity/Safety Coordinator. My boss, the Personnel Manager, made membership of Central Safety Group mandatory and part of my position description.
"By 1984 I was Group Occupational Health & Safety Manager. That year Beatrice Foods Pty Ltd (the second largest corporation in America and owner of Red Tulip Chocolates) requested I attend a productivity improvement conference in Los Angeles, and then do a two-week study tour of the major companies owned by Beatrice Foods to learn about Productivity Improvement, Teams and Safety.
"I attended my first meeting of Central Safety Group at the Belvedere Motel in Church Street, Richmond. When the motel closed in the mid-1980s, CSG moved to the North Melbourne Football Club in Arden St, North Melbourne, to continue their monthly Tuesday meetings. The group has had several meeting sites since then.
"I can recall that, during the early years of my membership, it was a tradition at the Christmas meeting and lunch that members would donate a gift for the Christmas hamper for each member to take away on the day. Working at Red Tulip Chocolates, I would bring packets of ‘After Dinner Mints’.
"The other significant event I recall was the annual ‘Apprentice Safety Day’ with speakers (mainly members) on all things Safety. The members not only delivered the information and training sessions (3 or 4 in the morning and 3 in the afternoon), but also helped with the preparation and correction of the papers completed by the apprentices in attendance. In my early years on the committee, we would have close to three hundred, if not more, apprentices attending on the day, and it was fantastic to see the number of female apprentices’ attendance grow each year."
.jpg)
Frank’s long career in safety has included almost 15 years leading the Risk Management team for the City of Darebin, before utilising his knowledge and skills across a number of different sectors. He also runs his own Risk Management consultancy, FM Risk Management.
Frank is a Fellow of the Safety Institute of Australia and a Certified Practising Risk Manager.
Frank has always been a committed member of our group and, in the words of Kevin Jones, “an unwavering support of OHS professionals who joined CSG. He provided the CSG meetings with an important local government perspective, in particular.”
He is indeed a worthy recipient of this honour.
HOK Talent Solutions is a fantastic supporter of Central Safety Group with provision of their beautiful Collins St boardroom for our monthly events and an annual informative review of the current OHS recruitment scene nationally.
The February 2024 presentation was based on Helen’s direct contact with hundreds of employers and deep data analysis from online recruitment sites such as Seek.com and LinkedIn. Further insights were derived from the thousands of interviews that Helen has undertaken while coaching candidates to land their dream OHS job. In summary, OHS job numbers have increased by 3% with candidates at advisor level being most in demand.
Helen's expertise and passion for her work were greatly appreciated by those of us online and in the room. In-person attendees not only enjoyed the view from the top floor of 120 Collins Street, but also the opportunity to continue the conversation with Helen after the formal part of the event.
Financial members can watch the full presentation on the CSG website. If you are looking for a new job check out www.hoktalentsolutions.com.au
View Presentation & Full Event Video
members only, please login first.
On the 13th February 2024, Central Safety Group held its 2023 AGM.
As an incorporated association, CSG must hold an annual general meeting and submit our financial statement to Consumer Affairs Victoria.
As there were no new nominees, this meeting confirmed the CSG Committee members as listed below:
Due to pending retirements, all members are encouraged to consider nominating for a committee role to ensure effective handover and longevity of your CSG as we move into our 64th year of sharing safety knowledge. We particularly need committee members with strong social media and IT skills. If you are interested, please go to the Contact US section on our home page.
In addition to the formal election of committee members and receipt of the Annual Report and Financial Statement, the AGM raised two proposals that were accepted unanimously. The first was to increase Corporate Member’s fee to $350 per calendar year (whilst maintaining the individual membership fee at $85). The Corporate Membership fee has remained at $300 ever since this tier of membership was introduced over 10 years ago. As Individual fees have increased steadily over the same period, it was thought that corporate membership fees were due for a modest increase.
Currently the annual fee allows corporations to send up to 3 employees to in-person events at the membership price (Zoom attendance is unlimited). This will increase to 4 employees when the fee increases in 2025.
The second proposal was to accept Frank Misteretta as a Life Member of CSG. Frank has maintained continuous membership since 1980 and has served on the committee in various roles including President.
Many thanks to those who attended the AGM as we look forward to another great year!
Log in to view the Minutes, Annual Report and Financial Statement.
Now that we are in full swing of the hybrid format for our monthly presentations, we regularly look for ways to improve their delivery.
Towards the end of last year, I made a trip to Officeworks' Russell Street store to investigate microphones that would make our recordings sound better, particularly during the discussion portion of presentations.
An assistant was helping me to navigate the many options and, while I was focussing on the cheaper versions, I mentioned that I was purchasing on behalf of a not-for-profit organisation. He summoned the Store Manager, Dan, who outlined their program of supporting local organisations and community groups. Every month each store's team selects the local charity or group they would like to support based on connections within community, and who needs it most.
I had a good discussion with Dan about Central Safety Group and our place within the Melbourne health and safety community, then followed up with an email containing more detail and a link to our website.
A couple of weeks later I received the great news that Officeworks Russell Street wanted to sponsor our group with a microphone. We chose a Blue Yeti Nano model, valued at $158. It had its first outing at our February event and the sound in the room is nice and clear on the recording.
We are very grateful for Officeworks' generous support, and we give particular thanks to Dan!
