Central Safety Group Melbourne

New thoughts on the role of ergonomics

Central Safety Group is privileged every year to hear the latest in the world of Ergonomics and Human Factors from Professor David Caple AM and this year did not disappoint. In fact, he is such a drawcard that we had a big attendance both online and in the room. It was great to have a hybrid meeting, where those in the room were able to pick David's brain as well as enjoy the networking opportunites. We hope this is the start of a new trend for our events.

David's talk followed his attendance at two recent international conferences and was so up-to-date that the proceedings from the conferences aren't even out yet. At the first conference he caught up with Pierre Falzon, who some members will recall, visited Australia in 2004 and gave an excellent presentation to CSG at the time.

One of the most fascinatng topics of David's presentation was that of the ratio between human wellbeing and systems performance. It is on the latter that industry spends their money and so, this is the angle ergonomists need to take in order to achieve the former. Leaders have a big influence on safety and David provided a great example of this.

The other topic that came up in the second conference is the enormous impact of AI on ergonomics, and this certainly stimulated quite a bit of discussion in the room.

David also alerted us to a new assessment tool from the UK, and to the fact that the La Trobe tool has been updated to include psychosocial factors. Links to these tools are in his power point presentation.

Finally, David gave a plug for the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of Australia (HFESA) conference that will be held in Adelaide this year from 19-22 November. More information can be found here.

Financial members can access all of David Caple's previous presentations in our CSG archives. Once logged in, click on the Speakers tab on the banner at the top of the page, then type in "David Caple" in the Search box.

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Continuing Professional Development points: an added benefit for CSG individual members

Central Safety Group frequently reviews its benefits for members in order to provide as much value as possible for your annual membership subscription. Earlier this year we surveyed our current members about the accumulation of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points for CSG-related activities.

We received a very positive response and now we are pleased to offer this benefit to individual financial members each calendar year, with CPD certificates to be sent out each December.

As not all members require this service, it will be an opt-in offering. Financial members will be contacted closer to the time to determine who requires a certificate.

Points can be accumulated from a range of activities:

• Attendance at a monthly presentation or site visit 3 pts
• Preparation and submission of an article that covers an OHS issue in detail for publication on the CSG website and/or CSG LinkedIn page 5 pts
• Development and delivery of a presentation to CSG members 10 pts
• Active annual service on the CSG committee 10 pts

If you would like any further information or have other suggestions to benefit members, please contact our Membership Co-ordinator Marina: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

WorkSafe Victoria Health and Safety Month 2023 free webinars

October is here, so that means it's Health and Safety Month. Once again Worksafe Victoria is running a series of free 45-minute webinars, ranging from practical tips on specific topics to broader discussions on important issues in the workplace. Just like our CSG events, you can attend these seminars via zoom, but you must regsiter in advance. Details can be found at www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/events

A few of the highlights are:
October 23: Work-related gendered violence including sexual harassment; Managing exposure to silica in the construction Industry

October 24: Victoria's economic transformation – impact on workplace safety. One of the speakers is Narelle Beer, Executive Director, Health and Safety, WorkSafe Victoria, who gave the keynote address at our 60th anniversary celebration last year.

October 24: WorkSafe's priorities to reduce workplace harm in construction

October 25: Recovery and return to work following a mental injury at work; WorkSafe 101 for teachers - preparing young people for safe work*

October 26: How to influence health and safety outcomes; Using systems thinking to uncover the factors driving manual handling and mental injury in Victoria's public hospitals

October 26: Supporting HSRs to complete a successful Provisional Improvement Notice. One of the presenters is CSG member Mike Craig, who also gave a presentation to us in May this year (HSRs - Partners in safety)

October 27: Best practice risk management for hazardous manual handling and musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs); How to prepare a safe work method statement for high-risk construction work**

Further details on the speakers and topics, as well as registration for the webinars, are available on the WorkSafe website here: www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/events

*For more on this topic, we had a wonderful presentation in July from Amy Lynes: Facing a rise in customer aggression

**Before venturing into the hot topic of construction safety, don't forget to attend our event on 10 October presented by Prof. Helen Lingard: Changing OHS culture in construction