Central Safety Group Melbourne

Workplace mental health research findings

Daryan Rosic was thrown in the deep end when our original speaker from Allianz became unavailable and he has only been with the organisation for a few weeks. However, he was more than capable of dealing with the situation and gave a comprehensive and fascinating presentation.

Daryan began by presenting valuable information from extensive research undertaken by Allianz in partnership with other organisations over a number of years. One of the key messages from this research is that workplaces need to be open to new ways of working and a diverse workforce. This is the area Daryan focussed on.

It is inevitable that more and more younger people are entering the workforce, and this can create a generational divide. Daryan offered a number of tips to break down this divide and support diversity and wellbeing in the workplace.

In fact, Allianz is demonstrating this in their own workplace: since 2021 they have run a traineeship program with Jigsaw Australia to provide work opportunities for neurodiverse people. Daryan explained what a benefit it has been for the organisation and how it fits with his notion of "psychological ergonomics". That is where a role is created to fit the person, rather than expecting them to fit an established mould.

Daryan also directed us to a range of free resources and guides on the Allianz website - see https://www.allianzcare.com/en/support/health-and-wellness/health-guides.html#guides.

Daryan's talk was really enlightening in the way he invited us to new ways of thinking about what a workplace can look like. I was struck by the notion that people "bring their whole selves to work". Sometimes we can be a bit rigid about processes and outcomes without considering the real humans making it happen.

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What’s new in ergonomics – here and overseas

The softly-spoken, widely-experienced David Caple is like the Obi Wan Kenobi of ergonomics, on whose every word we hang as he imparts his wisdom and guidance. This month's presentation covered a range of topics that highlighted his wealth of knowledge and experience and, indeed, why his expertise is sought after all over the world. 

Just back from the International Ergonomics Association (IEA) Congress in Korea, David gave a snapshot of the main topics of interest. He also recommended the IEA's series of Ergonomic Checkpoints publications, available freely on their website. Delegates gave great feedback on them, appreciating the simple case studies.

There you will also find a new publication Giving your business the human factors edge… Making it Happen! David is a co-author alongside Karen Lange-Morales (Colombia) and Andrew S. Imada (USA). This is aimed at line managers and supervisors.

David shared some case studies of his own, one to do with MSD issues related to large paint cans; the other concerned design of safe frontline staff environments. There is such a balancing act required when designing counters, for instance, and he showed us some of the pitfalls in this area. Screens are another contentious issue. In all cases, he recommends using prototypes before launching into changing design as this allows the people using the equipment to test it and provide feedback.

David briefly mentioned some innovation at the Department of Justice, which piqued our interest, and we are already looking at making that a topic for one of our events next year.

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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Safety beyond city limits

What an eye-opening presentation this was and what a great double-act Phil & Carly proved to be! Phil Dwyer has the wisdom of many years of experience in the construction industry & OHS, while Carly Chambers only became a South West TAFE OHS Officer in 2023, but her enthusiasm for the role shone through in her joint presentation with Phil in August.

The two generations clearly complement each other as they tackle a number of unique OHS issues across 5 campuses covering a large geographic area in SW Victoria. The distances between campuses mean that Phil & Carly do a great deal of travel in their working week, and so both have had training in defensive driving, which is essential on rural roads.

Other risk factors about these regional sites include the fact that 3 of the campuses are in fire-prone areas. The most rural site, Glenormiston, was originally a squatter’s farm before becoming an agricultural college, and now a TAFE. School camps still take place there, however, and so night-time evacuation drills are required. Not to mention training to deal with wildlife!

One campus has the town’s public library on-site, which means there are issues with public access. Another has a public bus route running through the middle of it –something most workplaces don’t have to contend with.

During their presentation, they showed a couple of contrasting photos: the new WorkSafe HQ in Geelong, which has been a boon for awareness of regional OHS issues, and the WorkSafe regional office in Warrnambool. The latter covers a huge section of Western Victoria, but has only 4 inspectors and the building is a small shopfront that looks like it could have been a local pharmacy once upon a time. The contrast in resources is staggering.

Nevertheless, Phil & Carly certainly never have a dull moment, and enjoy the challenges each day brings.

When CSG added its Zoom component necessitated by the dreaded pandemic, we didn’t realise at first what a benefit it would be. Not only do we have people like Phil join as financial members, but it also means we can have speakers from far beyond our CBD limit. In this instance it proved a bonus for us, because it was really fascinating to hear about a completely different OHS environment.

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Site visit to Melbourne & Olympic Parks

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.

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How storytelling connects to safety

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.

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Psychological health & safety at work

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.

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A visual approach to inductions

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!

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Emerging OHS challenges

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).

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OHS job market analysis

HOK Talent Solutions is a fantastic supporter of Central Safety Gro up 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

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Recent OHS research results

How lucky are we to have someone like Dr Marilyn Hubner presenting to us. She has delved into a great wealth of research, both in Australia and abroad, and gave us a very interesting distillation of some key findings. She has done so much work on our behalf. Her presentation was also a very fitting one to end 2023, because she covered a number of areas that relate to and enhance other presentations we had in the year.

Marilyn began by referring to a recent piece of research that confirms what many of us have suspected for some time: our brains need breaks between meetings! What a valuable message for all workplaces.

She then focussed her talk on 5 topics: construction; training; working from home; WHS Radar project; and harmonious safety passion. She discussed several aspects of construction safety that follow on from Dr Helen Lingard's talk in October. It includes a report that is hot off the press from Helen and her team: the RMIT Safety Index.

Research into the use of digital technology in both construction and training is extensive. Members who went on the site visit to the Victorian Tunnelling Centre will recall seeing first-hand how these tools can be used. The effectiveness of safety training in general is always a hot topic and Marilyn pointed to some interesting studies in that area. It also stimulated quite a bit of discussion amongst those present.

The WHS Radar project comes from the NSW Centre for Work Health and Safety. Marilyn recommends their work and says that they are great communicators.

Marilyn was very generous and provided each in-person attendee with a USB containing all the research papers she discussed. However, financial members not present have not been left out, because we have all of them in our presentation package in our Events archive.

We look forward to having Marilyn present to us again in the future. If there is a particular topic you would like discussed, please get in touch through our Contact Us portal on the website.

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