CSG Posts
Long-time financial member Phil Lovelock gave a really interesting presentation about social sustainability, which is part of the UN Global Compact and yet , according to Phil, seems to have become the forgotten pillar of sustainability (environmental and economic being the other two pillars). There is no information about this on either the Federal or Victorian WorkSafe sites, even though it is the primary duty of government.
However, businesses can and should do their part as well. As is often the case, OHS practitioners are ahead of the game and are already contributing to social sustainability. Phil gave a couple of case studies of larger organisations that are making contributions, but posed the question about how SMEs can also address this important pillar.
One of Phil's suggestions was to embrace external engagement, such as your very own Central Safety Group that not only has a range of resources, but also a network of OHS professionals. Certainly having members of such calibre and experience as Phil, who share their insights, highlights once again the value of our network.
Please note, that the sound quality of the video is not great this month, but the accompanying slides are comprehensive and provide plenty of information.
If you would like to learn more about the UN Global Compact on social sustainability, click here.
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From LinkedIn News 30 July 2022
I found this interesting article to share:
As the world of work continues to evolve, it's necessary to keep your skills fresh. One economist told CNBC Make It that having in-demand skills during times of economic uncertainty can help you stand out in the job market, especially if you're switching industries. What skills do recruiters want to see on your resume? Flexibility, communication and project management. In other words, show that you can adapt to new environments, effectively communicate and work with a team towards a goal.
Here is the link to the full CNBC story: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/13/in-demand-soft-skills-to-put-in-your-resume.html
Related to this, we had a great presentation by Helen O'Keefe in October 2021 on the current OHS job scene that is worth checking out. The video and full presentation are still available to financial members -click here (login first).
Don’t miss this highlight of Health and Safety Month: Central Safety Group is holding a very special celebratory networking lunch to mark our 60th anniversary.
What an occasion! Compered by Professor David Caple with guest speakers Dr Narelle Beer, Executive Director of Health and Safety, WorkSafe Victoria; and Barry Naismith from OHS Intros, who has some fascinating insights into the history of safety.
Further details to be announced soon.
WHEN: Friday, 14th October, 12:00 - 2:00pm.
WHERE: The beautiful surrounds of Parliament House Victoria's Dining Room
COST: Members: $25 Non-members: $60
To help indicate numbers, please answer a survey question here:
As our first face-to-face event in more than two years, it will be a wonderful celebration indeed!
This was a fascinating presentation, in which Dr Carys Chan was able to take us through some very detailed research in a really accessible manner.
Carys is one of the authors of a paper commissioned by Safe Work Australia and published last year, entitled "Response To Injury: Research to support workers’ psychological responses to injury and successful return to work". It is an 88-page report that gathers research from the past decade, and Carys was able to give us a concise summary of the main findings and recommendations that certainly piqued the interest of all present.
It is good to know that Australia is doing reasonably well in this area compared with the rest of the world though, of course, there is still room for improvement. Carys explained how a multi-disciplinary approach is the most impactful in achieving success. She also spoke about enhancers to return to work, such as removing the stigma of disability and ensuring role clarification.
Other enhancers include characteristics of the person themselves, one of which is education. I was intrigued by this and followed it up with Carys during question time. I wanted to know if that meant a person's level of education or rather how much they have been educated in the RTW process. Carys said it was actually the former: the higher the level of education, the better the RTW outcome. As an example, someone who has learnt that failure is a part of success will have a more positive approach. I thought that was a really valuable message.
If you would like to read the whole research paper, click here.
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Free Event - Industrial Manslaughter–What Does It Mean for Contractor Safety Management?
CSG members LinkSafe are holding a free online event on 27 July 2022, 2:00 - 3:00pm on the topic of Industrial Manslaughter–What Does It Mean for Contractor Safety Management?
Most states have introduced legislation creating the offence of industrial manslaughter and a number of cases have been run under the provisions, with a business owner recently being sentenced to 18 months' jail.
However, LinkSafe says that there is no need to panic. What you need is to understand better how the law applies to you, particularly in relation to the contractors you engage. The experts in contractor safety management, LinkSafe Legal, will help you understand how the law works and to whom it applies. They will also talk about how to make sure your contractor management systems support you, both to manage liability and to improve contractor safety, to prevent the serious incidents that this legislation targets.
As it's a free event, it's bound to book out quickly, so make sure you register now via the link here.
In a recent edition of the global online publication "The Auditor", there is a profile of Heather Turner, who has had a long career in auditing and also happens to be the current Secretary of Central Safety Group.
It is a great article, where Heather is interviewed and shares many fascinating stories about her Australian work experiences. She also talks about the importance of lifelong learning, as well as how she sees the future of the auditing profession.
Heather began her working life in a chemical lab, where she was given the opportunity to branch out into chemical safety and, from there, to quality assurance. She had extensive experience with WorkSafe Victoria as an auditor prior to beginning her own consultancy in 2014. Therefore, she has worked from both sides of the fence: with the Regulator and with assisting businesses.
Heather gives plenty of sage advice in the interview, including this gem: "To be a good auditor, you’ve got to deliver bad news in a positive way."
The article certainly explains why, as our Secretary, she has such an eye for proper process and detail.
Here is the link to the full article.
One of the silver linings for CSG over the last couple of years has been the introduction of zoom events, which have allowed us to expand our scope beyond the Melbourne CBD, both with our members as well as our speakers. This could not have been illustrated better than by our June event, where Jason Green, speaking from Sydney, opened our eyes to the situation in parts of the world well beyond ours.
Workplace Health Without Borders began in Canada in 2011 and the Australian branch is its newest. Their activities are aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals and consist primarily of mentorship, equipment donations, accredited training as well as policy and advocacy.
These activities focus on developing countries where a great proportion of the workforce is in the "informal" economy, and where there is a severe shortage of occupational hygienists and practitioners.
When Jason took us through some recent projects, it was astounding to think that there are countries grappling with hazards that we have already dealt with here, sometimes for a long time. This includes the use of lead paint in some African countries, asbestos in Indonesia and the issue of silicosis in Tanzania. It is clear that practitioners in Australia would have a great deal of expertise they could offer in these and other areas.
If you are interested in volunteering some of your time or finding out more about their work, check out the Workplace Health Without Borders Australian branch website here.
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This was such an interesting presentation that challenged us to look at the broader scope of our profession. In the words of Keith Govias, OHS professionals are moral change agents, and an ethical charter is a core element to their identity.
Discussions on ethics can be quite theoretical, but Keith put a very practical slant on it. While he began by explaining some complex theories, he did it in such a way that they could be understood and applied. Each of the 5 theories produces a different way of approaching ethics in business, such as the most common, which is a cost-benefit analysis. Keith showed us how to look beyond this.
One of the most interesting parts for me was when he discussed how to apply an ethical framework to incident investigation, to create a just culture that doesn't focus on worker error.
Another fascinating topic was the discussion of ethics versus following the law, and how mandatory vaccination policies pose an ethical conundrum.
Keith also discussed a number of valuable free resources available, such as ethical counsellors, the Body of Knowledge chapter on ethics that you can access here, and of course, networks such as your own Central Safety Group.
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Free Event - contractor management
CSG members LinkSafe are holding a free event on 25 May 2022, 2:00 - 4:00pm on Contractor Safety Management - The Do's, Don'ts & Down Right Silly, Lessons in effective contractor management.
LinkSafe Legal Expert Sue Bottrell will walk you through the modern approach to contractor safety management and some of the outdated practices undertaken in the name of contractor safety management. They promise that the session will be entertaining and informative.
As it's a free event, it's bound to book out quickly, so make sure you register now via the link here.
Sue Bottrell is LinkSafe’s Legal Advisor and a leading expert in contractor safety management. You may remember her excellent video presentation during our CSG Talks short video series last year. She spoke about the legal implications arising from the tragic incident on the Eastern Freeway that resulted in the death of 4 Victorian Police officers. Of course that is being played out in the courts as we speak, so it’s timely to hear again what Sue had to say about the contractor management aspects of this incident. Her talk A very public tragedy – but who is really responsible? is available to members and non-members alike.
There is clearly a great deal of interest in this topic judging by the turnout. It was also invaluable to have Tracey speaking to us, because she was a representative for Ai Group on a working group that reviewed WorkSafe Victoria’s proposed OHS Amendment (Psychological Health) Regulations.
She expressed frustration that jurisdictions are forming their own codes rather than adopting the National Code. However, we have seen this occur with other hazards, so I suppose it is not that surprising.
Ai Group have a few concerns about the draft Victorian regulations. The first is about the heirarchy of controls, where information, instruction and training are the lowest order control. While this is appropriate for physical hazards, such as manual handling, it is not really applicable for psychological hazards in their view.
Another issue is the section on Prevention Plans: Ai Group has asked for much more detail to be given about those, because the draft code gives scant guidance on this topic.
They are also concerned about reporting requirements, including the need to report twice a year as well as the notion of notifiable incidents. While it is self-evident that Tracey is speaking on behalf of employers, I would love to hear the employees' and union perspective on this, as I suspect they would have very different views.
Public comment on the proposed regulations closed on 31 March, but you can read the initial proposed draft along with 79 submissions here: https://engage.vic.gov.au/proposed-psychological-health-regulations
During discussion after the presentation Tracey gave us a timeline for the legislation: penalties will not come into effect until 2024; the Regulations are due to be released in July 2022, while the Compliance Code is due in October 2022. For the latter there will be just 2 weeks allowed for public comment, so keep an eye out for that.
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It was another big turnout for our March event and it was great to see so many people staying on after the recording had finished to continue the discussion. As OHS professionals, attendees had much to think about during and following Pam's presentation.
Pam made it an interactive session by conducting a number of short polls throughout. The polls prompted us to contemplate our roles as well as the emergence of the concept of "wellness" and how that fits into OHS. The polls do not show up on the recording, but Pam does discuss the results and we have included a summary of the results in the presentation package.
While Pam began by analysing some of the challenges for OHS professionals, she also looked at the positives of how we can take control of our roles and "craft" them to improve both our own work and our organisations themselves. Pam also alerted us to a range of resources, including research, publications and the OHS Body of Knoweldge (BoK), which is a wonderful free resource under the auspices of the AIHS. See www.ohsbok.org.au
Pam also touched on some other topics that are currently being developed by AIHS in position papers and for future BoK chapters. The talk of a Code of Ethics certanly piqued attendees' interest and CSG will be looking to address this topic at an event later this year. As always, Central Safety Group is here to serve its members, so we always welcome your suggestions for future speakers and events.
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Do you want to be informed and challenged? If so, join Kevin Jones at his SafetyAtWorkBlog for award winning news, commentary and opinion on workplace health and safety.
To celebrate Central Safety Group’s 60th anniversary, Kevin Jones has provided a very generous offer for financial members: 12 months’ FREE subscription to his blog and its library of articles.
Kevin, a Life Member of Central Safety Group, has been writing and editing the SafetyAtWorkBlog for over 14 years, during which time the blog has achieved several Australian and US awards as an important source of safety news and analysis.
Kevin is regularly contracted to develop and refine discussion papers and has recently written the safety and risk chapter for a major Australian infrastructure project.
SafetyAtWorkBlog provides over 3,000 exclusive posts on occupational health and safety matters. Your CSG membership for 2022 provides you with full access to this library. Not only that, your subscription will last until 12 months from the date of creation.
Current financial members have been sent the access details. New and renewing members will also be sent details once their CSG membership for 2022 has been finalised.
Central Safety Group membership has always offered great value for money and now there is even more reason to join today. Membership costs just $75 for the calendar year.
Thank you Kevin for this wonderful offer in celebration of our 60th year!
On the 8th February 2022, Central Safety Group held its inaugural AGM as an Incorporated Association.
As there were no additional nominees for the committee, all office bearers were re-elected unopposed.
The financial statement shows that we had quite a number of costs during 2021, mostly related to the website and our 60th anniversary this year. While we are a not-for-profit organisation, it was agreed that our financial situation is a little bit precarious. At the same time, our website is our biggest asset with its ever-increasing resources for members and, therefore, it is worth the investment.
To this end, four proposals were put to members regarding fees and charges, all of which were carried unanimously. As a result, the following resolutions were passed:
Log in to view the Minutes, Annual Report and Financial Statement.
