Central Safety Group Melbourne

October 2019

Safety Clutter and What to do About it

Presentation by: Dr David Provan, Managing Director, Forge Works

Presentation package now available (members only)

Does OHS in your workplace feel weighed down by paperwork, rules and procedures? Dr David Provan said this can be due to ‘safety clutter’, described in a study he co-authored as "the accumulation of safety procedures, documents, roles and activities that are performed in the name of safety, but do not contribute to the safety of operational work." Worse, this can create negative beliefs and attitudes to safety, according to the research.
David spoke about how to identify ‘safety clutter’, what to do about it and how to remove it in a lunchtime presentation to Central Safety Group on Thursday, 10 October.
He said that clutter can take the form of too many rules and procedures, duplication and ‘tick the box’ safety activities. This can include meetings, audits, observations and investigation processes that are not actually reducing the risk of safety incidents. David explained how to ‘de-clutter’ without affecting legal compliance and certification.

The presenter:

Dr David Provan, a leading safety thinker and practitioner, is the former General Manager, Health, Safety and Environment for Origin Energy. He has more than 20 years of safety management experience across several high-hazard industries with international operations. David is the founder of safety consultancy firm Forge Works, and also a part-time lecturer and researcher at Queensland’s Griffith University. He has a Bachelor of Behavioural Science (Psychology), Masters of Health Science (Risk Management and OHS), Masters of Business Administration (Finance) and a PhD in Safety Science, where his research thesis was titled, “What is the role of a Safety Professional? The identity, practice and future of the profession”.

August 2019

The real impact of shift work and workplace fatigue

Presentation by: Dr Tracey Sletten, Senior Research Fellow - Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University and Project Leader - Cooperative Research Centre for Alertness, Monash University

Presentation package now available (members only)

It is estimated around 20% of the Australian workforce is involved in some form of shift work, many of them in roles critical for public safety. The challenges of shift work and occupational fatigue have long been acknowledged, but recent research has increased understanding of the negative consequences of working against the body clock.
Dr Tracey Sletten of Monash University and the Cooperative Research Centre for Alertness, Safety and Productivity presented some of the latest findings and recommendations in this area at the August meeting of Central Safety Group.
Tracey has been working closely with several industries including aviation, transport and healthcare, researching the effects of shift work and sleep loss on workers in their operations. This work has included interventions to improve alertness, health and safety.
As well as the best way to manage shift work, Tracey discussed the need for cultural change to address the growing incidence of sleep loss in the general population linked to modern lifestyles.

The presenter:

Dr Tracey Sletten is a Senior Research Fellow with the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, and serves as a Project Leader with the Cooperative Research Centre for Alertness, Safety and Productivity. She has also held research positions in the US and UK. Dr Sletten frequently consults nationally and internationally, conducting training and education, analysing work schedules and conducting fatigue assessments for industry. She holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of South Australia.

June 2019

Safety lapses and real life consequences

Presentation by: Rohan Sykes, Phoenix Workplace Safety

Presentation package now available (members only)

Rohan Sykes was a healthy, active young family man when he suffered an horrific workplace injury that caused severe burns to 35% of his body. He was seriously injured by exposure to radiant heat from molten glass, despite wearing full PPE and following procedures.
He emerged from a long and painful recovery and rehabilitation with a strong passion to raise awareness about new approaches to safety that go beyond the standard thinking. Rohan shared his experiences and discussed his special insights and perspectives on safety at the Central Safety Group lunchtime meeting on Tuesday, 11 June.
He spoke about the real life consequences of a workplace accident and outlined a model for safety and ‘safety psychology’ he believes should be adopted. In Rohan’s view, with the right habits and attitudes to safety, most accidents are preventable.

The presenter:

Rohan Sykes started his career as an apprentice fitter and turner with ALCOA. He immediately showed a passion for workplace safety and safe work practices, becoming an apprentice safety rep. Soon after that he started work as a multi-skilled operator at a glass bottle factory where the serious injury occurred. After his recovery Rohan founded Phoenix Workplace Safety with a mission to encourage industrial workplaces and individuals to completely re-think the way they approach safety. Through his presentations he has had a positive impact on the safety culture of many organisations, including major companies in the mining, defence, packaging and food industries and bodies such as local councils.

April 2019

Staff Safety and Difficult Customer Interactions

Presentation by: Kristen Richardson, Wellbeing and Safety Business Partner Team Leader, ANZ

Presentation package now available (members only)

Many businesses have seen an upsurge in staff impacted by difficult customer interactions that may place them at risk of a physical or psycho-social illness. This has particularly been the case in the banking industry and is varied across customer contact, whether it is face-to-face or telephone interactions.
ANZ Bank has a strategy in place to keep their staff safe from this risk and this was presented by Kristen Richardson, Wellbeing and Safety Business Partner Team Leader, at a lunchtime presentation to Central safety Group on 9 April, 2019.
The strategy looks at all aspects of staff safety – physical, psycho-social and most importantly the leadership culture shift required to enable this strategy to be successful. This strategy was developed using external consultancy expertise and research across other industries.

The presenter:

Kristen Richardson joined ANZ in mid-2014 and has been in her current role providing Business Partnering wellbeing and safety support across ANZ Australia Division for two years. Prior to that, she was Retail Wellbeing and Safety Business Partner at ANZ. She spent over seven years in senior HR roles with infrastructure company Golder Associates after being with Coles Supermarkets for 10 years as National HS Manager. Kristen started her career in nursing before studying OH&S at RMIT and doing further studies in change management.

February 2019

OHS Careers and Recruitment - what’s hot and what’s not

Presenters:

Rachel McGregor, Safety People
Ebonie Martello, Safety People

Presentation package now available (members only)

Key job market trends in safety in Australia were the subject of a presentation at the Central Safety Group’s first meeting for 2019 on 12 February.
OHS recruitment specialists Rachel McGregor and Ebonie Martello of Safety People gave a presentation followed by an extensive Q&A session with the audience.
They spoke about how employment trends are matching the industries experiencing a boom and presented a table of salary trends for various OHS positions in the Melbourne market. They noted that the demand for consultants is increasing and talked about the reasons for this as well as the implications for those seeking OHS roles.
They concluded by discussing what employers are looking for in a safety professional and what candidates are looking for in an employer.

The presenter:

Before joining Safety People, Rachel McGregor worked in WorkCover/Return-to-Work roles.

The presenter:

Before joining Safety People, Ebonie Martello was an OH&S Advisor with John Holland.