Central Safety Group Melbourne

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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Changing OHS culture in construction

One can only marvel at the depth and breadth of research Professor Helen Lingard has undertaken and drawn upon in her work in OHS in the construction industry. We had a taste of it during her presentation on 10th October and luckily her power point is available to financial members to look at it more closely.

Behind the figures, however, is a wealth of knowledge that informs improvements in safety culture. One of the main topics Helen covered was hours of work, where a large data set has identified a tipping point between hours worked and mental health issues. Perhaps unsurprisingly, that point is different for men and women. One finding that fascinated me was the fact that practical support from supervisors matters more than emotional support when it comes to dealing with prolonged hours of work.

Long hours of work is just one of the three main drivers in a poor culture, the other two being lack of diversity and wellbeing issues. Helen talked about a culture project that began in 2018, from which a Culture Standard has been developed that is now part of a pilot program in NSW & Victoria. Helen recommends visiting the website to learn more about it: https://www.constructionindustryculturetaskforce.com.au/

 A really interesting innovation Helen spoke about was an online role playing game that has been developed to improve skills, especially among young construction workers. It was developed from the time not so long ago when face-to-face training was not an option, and draws upon real-life scenarios. There has been some positive feedback about it so far, and one can imagine how such an initiative would appeal to a younger cohort.

Once again we had the speaker and several attendees in the room, which is such a boon for stimulating discussion. In this case we had two attendees from WorkSafe's Construction Division, including an Inspector and it was great to gain his insights as well. He said that the different cultures at different workplaces are palpable.

Financial members can listen to the extensive discussion as well as Professor Lingard's excellent presentation by clicking on the link below (login first).

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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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Victorian Tunnelling Centre

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Facing a rise in customer aggression

It is always such a pleasure to have a speaker who is so knowledgeable about their topic and, therefore, so engaging. Such was the case with Amy Lynes' presentation to us. Not that it was a pleasant topic to speak about -some of the statistics and scenarios Amy shared with us were quite shocking.

Amy is a member of the legal practice that sits within the National Retail Association (NRA) and their data shows that customer aggression was already a big issue before Covid and has increased since. I'm sure many of us are aware of how this has led to an exodus of staff from many businesses. Retailers of all sizes are turning to the NRA for guidance, and there has been sky-rocketing demand for their courses that deal with this issue as well as others, such as sexual harrassment. It is interesting to note, however, that there is only so much a staff member can do when the root cause is the badly-behaved customer.

Amy and her colleagues work actively to raise awareness in various capacities, such as making submissions to draft bills and developing campaigns -e.g. the "No-one deserves a serve" campaign with the union (Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association). She noted, however, that laws are made, but the issue becomes whether those laws are used.

Amy talked about innovative approaches by some retailers and how they need to be tailored to particular circumstances. For instance, depending on the type of brand as well as the location. In the case of the latter, the approach for a street-front store is different from one in a shopping mall.

One striking take-home message for me was that, for young workers in fast food and retail, it is often their first job. They may not know what is acceptable or unacceptable and, therefore, what should be reported, especially when it comes to sexual harassment. Not to mention that they are unlikely to be equipped with the skillls to deal with difficult situations. Something all of us should be aware of when we are customers.

That is why it's important to have organisations like NRA available as a resource for employers and employees alike. As Amy said, it is so helpful to learn from others. That is the CSG ethos as well of course!

Financial members may be interested to revisit our March 2020 presentation Dealing with customer abuse (log in first). Kenn Rogers spoke about how the Reject Shop deals with customer abuse of their young workforce.

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Health and Safety Representatives – Partners in safety

We have been very pleased to welcome WorkSafe Victoria as a Corporate Member this year and now to have one of their HSR Support Officers, Mike Craig, present to us. The feeling was clearly mutual, because Mike sent a thank you note to the organisers and attendees saying "[There was] some lovely feedback from the participants and some great questions from the audience at the end. Please pass along my thanks to all and sundry."

It is clearly a topic of great interest to our membership, as there was a big turnout for this presentation. It was particulalry timely for some of those present, because they had either just conducted HSR training in their workplace or were about to do so. In fact, it was great to see some HSRs from Melbourne Polytechnic in the audience.

Mike sees HSRs as WorkSafe's eyes and ears on the ground, and so it is a three-way partnership between HSRs, the employer and the regulator. He outlined the powers of HSRs, both what they can do and what they can't do. It is important to point out that they are not a replacement for a safety professional. He made the analogy with First Aiders, who are not required to do more than they are trained to do, but are a first port of call prior to the arrival of paramedics.

One of Mike's key messages about his role as an HSR support officer is that his main purpose is to support consultation in workplaces. Indeed, with consultation and representation being principles of health and safety protection under the Act, HSRs and Health & Safety Committees are vital links in the safety chain.

Mike also mentioned a range of supports available to HSRs from WorkSafe, including a monthly newsletter to which he encourages HSRs subscribe.

Mike's talk stimulated quite a bit of discussion, which is included in the video recording.

Financial members may be interested to read a report from Professor David Caple's presentation in August 2012 What additional support can WorkSafe provide for Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs)? (log in first) to gain an historical perspective and see what progress has been made since David's review.

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Designing a sustainable workplace

We were so pleased to have this interesting topic presented by long-time CSG member Rosie O'Halloran. One of the strengths of our association is that we have members who share their expertise and knowledge with us, and that their particular experiences can also be applied in a range of other workplaces.

Rosie began by giving a snapshot of the period from the 1970s to the 2000s and the evolution of design issues with indoor workplace environments. One aspect that hasn't changed much is the tendency for ergonomics to be the poor cousin to design -that it can be sacrificed to an overriding consideration of aesthetics.

Rosie showed photos that demonstrated this challenge as well as other images of poor design from the workplace that was the subject of her recent Green Star project at the Unversity of Melbourne. Rosie developed a comprehensive methodology that includes a range of engagement methods as well as the application of science and photographic evidence.

Rosie gave many practical examples of what to consider when choosing furniture and equipment. It was interesting to see how her project team developed prototypes and mock-ups of furniture that were tested by users and improved prior to manufacture and roll-out.

While the Green Star ergonomics credit rating for interior design requires certification by a Certified Professional Ergonomist, Rosie emphasised that her methodology can be applied by a generalist OHS practitioner, because she has proven that it works and it complies. In fact, she won an award for it! A great catchphrase sums up one of Rosie's take-home messages: good ergonomics = good economics.

Ergonomics is always topical and we have several other presentations in our archives that may be of interest, including David Trembearth's Musculoskeletal Issues - What’s New and David Caple's Sit-Stand Desks (log in first).

We encourage members to follow Rosie's example in sharing knowledge by presenting to the group, so if you would like to make a contribution, please contact Jane Loudon: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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