February 2023 Presentation: Recruiting and retaining OHS staff

Presentation & Full Event Video Now Available
CSG Event: February 2023
Speaker: Helen O’Keefe, Director, HOK Talent Solutions
 
Check out the latest presentation from our February 2023 event, along with the full event video, now available to members.
 

Recruiting and retaining OHS staff

It was a great start to a new year of presentations with Helen O'Keefe's insights into the OHS recruitment scene. As it happened to be St Valentine's Day, Helen gave her presentation a cute twist by drawing an analogy between the employee life cycle and a marriage, and it fitted surprisingly well. She covered the full gamut from recruitment as the dating phase; onboarding & retention equating to a marriage; and separation as a divorce. To avoid the latter, Helen gave several tips on how to maintain a happy marriage in the work sense.

She explained how January started as strongly as 2022 did, which had already broken records with the number of positions being advertised. In particular it is specialists that are being sought. Post lockdown candidates have become more selective, which is making recruitment harder. Position descriptions are changing as a result of this, so that they are more like an advertisement to attract people. Helen gave some practical suggestions about how to make a PD more attractive.

Helen also had some great tips during her presentation for retaining staff, and further tips came up during the engaging discussion afterwards. One fascinating insight was how important a platform like LinkedIn has become. Having an up-to-date profile is advantageous for both a candidate and a potential employer, because it can show how well-connected you are and the range of activities you are involved in. In fact, Helen predicts that CVs will become obsolete and will be replaced by a LinkedIn profile or similar.

Helen is such an enthusiastic speaker on her topic and the attendees really appreciated her expertise.

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April 2023: Rosie O’Halloran

Rosie O’Halloran

Date & Time: Tuesday 4 April 2023, noon
*Note: a week earlier due to Easter public holidays

CSG Hybrid Lunchtime Presentation -via zoom or in person

Speaker: Rosie O’Halloran, Ergonomist, University of Melbourne

Topic: Green ergonomics: Designing a sustainable workplace

How do you gain a green star rating for ergonomic design? You can learn what’s involved from Rosie O’Halloran, an award-winning Human Factors and Ergonomics practitioner, in her presentation to Central Safety Group on Tuesday 4 April.

She will present a methodology she developed for evaluating and certifying the interior of buildings with a green star rating credit for ergonomic design. Following her success with this at the University of Melbourne, Rosie won the 2022 University Safety Association’s Safety Professional of the Year award.....read more

Note: RSVP by close of business Monday 3 April 2023.  When booking, please ensure you select the April Event from the dropdown list (shaded orange), to RSVP.

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March 2023: Kevin Jones

Kevin Jones

Date & Time: Wednesday 15 March 2023, noon
*Note: different day due to Monday public holiday

CSG Hybrid Lunchtime Presentation -via zoom or in person

Speaker: Kevin Jones, Editor, SafetyAtWorkBlog

Topic: The hot topics of OHS today

Some of the latest books on workplace OHS will be discussed by Kevin Jones in a lunchtime presentation on Wednesday 15 March. This is a chance to find out what’s new, what’s getting attention, and some of the fastest growing trends in OHS.

Kevin is internationally recognised for his commentary and analysis on safety-related matters and is involved in different areas of safety.....read more

Note: RSVP by close of business Tuesday 14 March 2023  When booking, please ensure you select the March Event from the dropdown list (shaded orange), to RSVP.

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February 2023: Helen O'Keefe

Helen O'Keefe

Date & Time: Tuesday 14 February 2023 at 12:00pm 

PLEASE NOTE: ONLINE ZOOM Event:

Speaker: Helen O’Keefe, Director, HOK Talent Solutions.

Topic: Recruiting and retaining OHS staff

Like many areas of the current job scene, employers looking for quality OHS professionals are finding themselves in an inflated job market, where there are more roles available than suitable applicants.

So what’s required to attract and retain OHS talent when good candidates are spoilt for choice? What do you need to be doing differently? Some useful advice will be offered by Helen O’Keefe, who runs a leading national health & safety executive search agency, at a presentation for CSG at noon on Tuesday 14 February....read more

Note: RSVP by close of business Monday 13 February 2023.  When booking, please ensure you select the February Event from the dropdown list (shaded orange), to RSVP.

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November 2022 Presentation: 5 top tips for successful auditing

Presentation & Full Event Video Now Available
CSG Event: November 2022
Speaker: Ross Macfarlane, Director, RM The Risk Manager
 
Check out the latest presentation from our November 2022 event, along with the full event video, now available to members.
 

5 top tips for successful auditing

What a great presentation this was as Ross demonstrated the qualities of the high-calibre speakers we have been able to bring you once again this year. His enthusiaism for the topic and incredible breadth of knowledge shone throughout the presentation. As he said himself, he could have spoken for hours.

The tips he discussed were around scheduling, planning, the audit interview, evidence and corrective action, and he showed how they can be applied to variously sized organisations. The tip he concentrated the most on was the third one, the audit interview, because this is the area most people struggle with. He talked about strategies to put people at ease and emphasised that the core aim of an audit is to verify risk controls and not to trip people up. I certailny felt that, if I were about to be audited, I would like it to be done by Ross.

During the discussion after his presentation, Ross mentioned that he had discovered surprising advantages with "zoom" audits, so it is good to find a silver lining from the pandemic restrictions of last year.

One of the comments from an attendee in the zoom chat sums up perfectly the standard of this presentation: "Great to hear what you have learnt throughout your years of auditing. Love the positive approach."

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November 2022: Ross Macfarlane

Ross Macfarlane

Date & Time: Tuesday 8 November 2022 at 12:00pm 

PLEASE NOTE: ONLINE ZOOM Event:

Speaker: Ross Macfarlane, Director, RM The Risk Manager.

Topic: Five top tips for successful auditing

Ross Macfarlane has extensive experience conducting successful OHS audits for a wide range of companies and organisations. Since 2008 he has conducted over 1,000 audits and has an audit log of over 1,350 days. Based on this wealth of experience, Ross will share his top 5 tips for a successful audit program in a lunchtime Zoom talk on 8 November.

Ross will discuss how to develop and implement an audit schedule based on risk and then how to plan and prepare for the audit itself. Other topics covered will be: putting auditees at ease during interviews, the rules of evidence, and strategies for corrective actions that actually work...read more

Note: RSVP by close of business Monday 7 November 2022.  When booking, please ensure you select the November Event from the dropdown list (shaded orange), to RSVP.

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October 2022: 60th Anniversary

CSG 60th Anniversary

Date & Time: FRIDAY 14 October 2022 at 12:00pm 

PLEASE NOTE: In person @ Parliament House Event:

Speakers: Dr Narelle Beer, Executive Director of Health and Safety, WorkSafe Victoria; and Barry Naismith from OHS Intros.

Compere: Professor David Caple AM

Join us in the grand surroundings of Parliament House Victoria to celebrate CSG’s 60 years of networking and continuous service to the OHS community. Hosted by David Caple AM, with speakers Dr Narelle Beer (ED WorkSafe Victoria) and Barry Naismith, and a delicious meal showcasing the state’s fresh produce....read more

Note: RSVP by close of business Friday 7 October 2022. 

RSVP Here

 

September 2022: Ben Thomson

Ben Thomson

Date & Time: Tuesday 13 September 2022 at 12:00pm 

PLEASE NOTE: ONLINE ZOOM Event:

Speaker: Ben Thomson, Safety Manager, Flight Academy Australia.

Topic: When a company is small and risks are high

Aviation demands particularly sound safety management systems and behaviours. Ben Thomson, Safety Manager for Flight Academy Australia (FAA), a light aircraft pilot training business, faces special challenges with instructors and students from a wide range of backgrounds...read more

Note: RSVP by close of business Monday 12 September 2022.  When booking, please ensure you select the September Event from the dropdown list (shaded orange), to RSVP.

RSVP Here

 

September 2022 Presentation: Small companies with high risks

Presentation & Full Event Video Now Available
CSG Event: September 2022
Speaker: 
Ben Thomson, Safety Manager, Flight Academy Australia
 
Check out the latest presentation from our September 2022 event, along with the full event video, now available to members.
 

When a company is small and risks are high

In a refreshing change, we heard about a specific industry this month when Ben Thomson from Flight Academy Australia presented to us. While it was fascinating in itself to learn more about the subject of aviation safety, it was inspiring to learn about ways of instilling a better safety culture into smaller organisations more generally.

Ben began by giving a brief overview of the evolution of safety approaches. It was interesting to see how it began with "airmanship", which focussed on the individual, and gradually evolved to the holistic approach of a full-blown safety management system that they have today, where the focus is on the culture.

Ben outlined some new thinking into the 5 ingredients of an effective safety culture that are really useful for all organisations, no matter the size. The one that resonated most with us was the concept of a Just Culture and Ben delved into that, particularly in relation to incident reporting. One of the main challenges is encouraging people to admit when they've made a mistake, because it is counterintuitive for people to do so. The way an organistaion responds has an effect on the value that can be derived from reporting.

Another challenge with reporting is if the process to do so is overly complicated: while it's important to document incidents, it shouldn't be too onerous for the person reporting. This put me in mind of a great presentation a few years ago from David Provan about Safety Clutter, which complements Ben Thomson's advice for smaller organisations. Financial members can access it here.

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August 2022 Presentation: OHS & social sustainability

Presentation & Full Event Video Now Available
CSG Event: August 2022
Speaker: 
Phil Lovelock, Senior Health, Safety and Wellbeing Consultant and Policy Advisor, Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
 
Check out the latest presentation from our August 2022 event, along with the full event video, now available to members.
 

OHS and Social Sustainability

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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