Central Safety Group Melbourne

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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Return to Work – What research is telling us

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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OHS without borders – helping overseas

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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Ethics in safety

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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New psychological hazard regulations

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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The changing role of the OHS professional

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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New perspectives on OHS

The February event was a great start to our 60th anniversary year with Life Member Kevin Jones presenting to the group. Kevin always has interesting perspectives on current OHS issues to stimulate our thinking. Some provocative ideas to start the year inspire and revive us after the last two years of dealing with the pandemic.

I was particulalry taken with Kevin's assertion that OHS practitioners can become very insular and narrow-focussed whilst fulfilling the needs of a particular employer; that there is little OHS activism as well as a failure to see OHS within a broader social context. It was also challenging to ponder the limitations of the catch cry of taking "reasonable care".

Kevin demonstrated the way in which lateral thinking can enhance one's perspective on OHS by discussing some recent publications, some of which are not straight OHS books. He shared with us his methodology for finding books that are relevant to OHS practice even when there is no mention of safety in the title. His curious mind is a real boon for us, as he is able to discover interesting publications that we might otherwise be unaware of.

Kevin also discussed publications that are on OHS topics, including an article providing a new definition of a "safe system of work" that sounds fascinating. Details of the books he discussed can be found in his presentation notes as well as in the Further Reading section of the website (log in first). Kevin also pointed out that a very valuable resource is the WorkSafe library in Geelong.

There are plenty of other past presentations by Kevin on our website, including his discussion of some other publications in a short video as part of our free CSG Talks series in 2020, A look at some new thinking.

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Return to work in COVID times: managing psychosocial risk

We had an amazing turnout for our last presentation of the year, which was not surprising considering the topic and the calibre of speaker. Natasha Lazareski's presentation covered some interesting ground that included the inherent contradictions one must face as we all venture back to work post the latest phase of the pandemic.

One such contradiction is within our reactions to situations, where our instinct can be in conflict with a more rational response. Natasha advised organsiations to normalise the fact that we all have different responses to COVID, but still to establish clear guidelines for the workplace that all must follow. Another aspect of this balancing act is to ensure that you don't give out mixed messages, because this can erode trust. We only have to think of how that played out in the community when authorities communicated ever-changing rules and information.

With communication being such a key to successful return to work, Natasha said she believes that workplace Health & Safety Representatves will become the new frontline heroes. That was a great way to emphasise the importance of those roles!

Natasha's presentation went at a cracking pace with a lot of information in her slides, some of which were skipped over due to time constraints. Therefore, do check out the powerpoint slides as well as the video itself.

If you'd like to hear more from Natasha, you can also take a look at her short video as part of our free CSG Talks series last year, Workplace safety in pandemic times.

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The current OHS job scene

There was a lot of interest in this very timely and fascinating presentation. As Helen said, the current job scene in OHS is HOT and, as it is likely to stabilise next year, now is the time to pursue new opportunities if that has been on your mind. It's a candidate's market!

It was heartening to hear that the pandemic has had one positive effect in that the reputation of OHS has been boosted, making it a great career choice.

Helen shared some interesting national statistics on recruiting that showed the most sought-after job categories. She also offered valuable advice to both potential candidates and organisations looking to fill roles.

Helen conducts a regular podcast series where she talks to CEOs about OHS, which you can learn more about at https://www.hoktalentsolutions.com.au/podcast-webinars/

If you are interested in OHS job opportunities a bit further afield, check out Nan Austin's presentation from July 2020 about her experiences in New Zealand: Safety shake-up across the Tasman, which you can access here (log in first)

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