Central Safety Group Melbourne

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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The hot topics of OHS today

You can always count on Kevin Jones to stimulate discussion about OHS, and his March presentation was no exception.

He started by talking about what he considers to be the 5 hot topics at the moment. One of those topics is working from home, which comes up against the prevailing approach of OHS systems that are based on "workplaces" rather than "work". This issue is linked to another of the hot topics, systems thinking, which Kevin believes tends to be very limited. In particular, during investgations the thinking can become bogged down in old systems and not open to the possibility of change.

Another topic that has been hot for quite a while is that of psychosocial hazards. Kevin had many interesting thoughts about these, including challenges with the traditional hierarchy of controls as well as the tendency for HR to see this as their patch rather than sharing a united front with OHS.

This led Kevin into a discussion of some of the books he's been reading lately on these various topics, and what an extensive reading list he presented to us. On the topic of psychosocial hazards, he started by talking about some books that are "shockers", mainly self-help books that put the onus on the person having difficulties to deal with it themselves, instead of tackling organisational aspects. Luckily there are publications about that do deal with the organisational side, and Kevin shared some of those with us.

It is impressive how well-read Kevin is, and it is not confined to published books alone. He also alerted us to an online research paper along with an interview on RN. The full list can be viewed here (log in first).

One of Kevin's key messages was that he encourages OHS practtioners to be less timid about speaking out, to be more visible and not be afraid to talk about politics. He invites us to join him on the May Day march to highlight the importance of safe jobs! As part of his message, he delved into some interesting ethical topics, including conflicts of interest with big consultancy firms; the profit versus  productivity motivation of business and individuals; and even talked about the UN's Sustainable Development Goals that include "decent work". OHS is a fundamental human right.

To learn more of Kevin's insights, you can also re-visit his presentation from February 2022 New perspectives on OHS (log in first).

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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.

RSVP Here

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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Kevin Jones

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

PLEASE NOTE: ONLINE ZOOM Event:

Speaker: Kevin Jones Freelance writer, SafetyAtWorkBlog

Topic: New Perspectives on OHS

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

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