Central Safety Group Melbourne

November 2024

Here comes the sun

Presenters:

Shannon Jones, Programs and Priority Populations Manager, SunSmart, Cancer Council Victoria
Dominic Melling, OHS Unit Coordinator, Victorian Trades Hall Council

CSG event video now available (members only)
Presentation package now available (members only)

Summer brings with it increased risk of skin cancer, heat exhaustion and heat stroke in the workplace. This session on November 12 raised awareness of risks from exposure to heat, and discussed the roles and requirements of employers and employees in dealing with these.

Skin cancer awareness and prevention was discussed by Shannon Jones, Programs and Priority Populations Manager, SunSmart, Cancer Council Victoria.

General dangers from working in high temperatures, both indoors and outdoors, were discussed by Dominic Melling, OHS Unit Coordinator at Victorian Trades Hall Council.

Both speakers showed what employers need to be aware of and actions required to avoid harm to workers.

Apologies for the minor glitsch around the 43-minute mark in the video. It does not affect the viewing.

The presenter:

Shannon Jones is the Programs and Priority Populations Manager at SunSmart, Cancer Council Victoria where she is responsible for the overall management of the SunSmart Program. Shannon works directly with schools, early childhood, the health workforce and workplaces to improve the prevention and early detection of skin cancer in the Victorian population. Before joining Sunsmart 15 years ago, Shannon had a background in corporate health, health promotion and education. She has a Bachelor of Applied Science (Health Promotion) from Deakin University and is doing postgraduate studies in Public Health at Monash University.

The presenter:

Dominic Melling serves as the Lead Organiser of the OHS Team at the Victorian Trades Hall Council (VTHC). In this role Dominic collaborates with affiliated unions to advocate for safer workplaces and enhanced conditions for workers. He plays a crucial role as a liaison between WorkSafe and union affiliates to ensure that union priorities are raised and handled collectively. Dominic and his team are instrumental in the development and delivery of resources for HSRs, including the weekly newsletter Safety Net, an email advice line Ask Renata, organising the annual HSR Conference and creating innovative tools. Dominic is also a committee member of Central Safety Group.

September 2024

What’s new in ergonomics – here and overseas

Presentation by: David Caple AM, David Caple & Associates

CSG event video now available (members only)
Presentation package now available (members only)

Our popular annual speaker David Caple, fresh back from the International Ergonomics Association Congress in Korea, gave an update to CSG on 10 September on emerging issues in ergonomics, followed by some interesting local case studies.

The first case study was about the risk of heavy paint cans to store staff and customers. This has resulted in changes to the industry, but there have been further findings from an industry review related to lighter weight cans.

This was followed by a case study on the management of occupational violence and design of safe frontline staff environments, including counters and security systems.

David also discussed a new publication he launched at the Congress, a resource for business leaders, 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).

The presenter:

David Caple AM is a leading figure in occupational health and safety here and overseas. He is a Certified Professional Ergonomist (CPE) in Australia, UK, and USA. He has advised a wide range of businesses, industry groups and public sector organisations and worked with Australian and overseas governments on work health and safety strategy. He was involved in the development of legislation relating to the prevention of MSD for the Australian government and led multiple industry-based MSD prevention projects. David was the 16th President of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA) 2006-2009 and represented the IEA at conferences and meetings in 30 countries. He has spent 40 years as an OHS consultant, and was Adjunct Professor, Centre for Ergonomics & Human Factors, La Trobe University for the last 20 years.

July 2024

Site visit to Melbourne & Olympic Parks

Presentation by: Scott McMillan, Director of Safety, Melbourne & Olympic Parks

Presentation package now available (members only)

Attendees enjoyed the chance to see inside the safety systems of some of Melbourne’s biggest event and sporting venues with Scott McMillan, Director of Safety at Melbourne & Olympic Parks on 9 July.

Melbourne & Olympic Parks (M&OP) is home to seven national, elite sporting teams and welcomes millions of visitors annually. The precinct is acclaimed for hosting the Australian Open, a range of sporting codes, as well as top international acts and musicians.

On the site visit, Scott showed the safety side of what goes into putting on some of its main sporting events. This includes discussing the challenge of providing safe delivery, in a short time frame and on a very large scale.

The presenter:

Host Scott McMillan, Director of Safety at Melbourne & Olympic Parks, conducted our tour. About the venue: The original Olympic Park sporting arena, established in 1933, was demolished in 1946 for redevelopment to prepare the precinct to host field hockey and cycling events during the 1956 Olympic Games. By 1988, another significant redevelopment was underway to establish a purpose-built, multi-venue National Tennis Centre to host the Australian Open. In 2006 the precinct hosted various events for the Commonwealth Games. Today the precinct is home to six of Melbourne’s premier venues: Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena, John Cain Arena, AAMI Park, CENTREPIECE and Kia Arena. A $972 million-dollar Melbourne Park Redevelopment has recently been completed by the Victorian Government.

May 2024

Psychological health & safety at work

Presenters:

Madelaine Barry, Program Officer (Psychological health programs), WorkSafe Victoria
Darcy Cooper, Program Manager (WorkWell), WorkSafe Victoria
Daniel McConville, Psychosocial Inspector, WorkSafe Victoria

CSG event video now available (members only)
Presentation package now available (members only)

We had a special event on 14 May with 3 in-person presenters from WorkSafe Victoria, including an Inspector, on the topic of psychological health & safety.
Any worker experiencing unsafe work is a matter of concern for all – employees, employers, insurers, and regulators. So what are some practical approaches companies can take to prevent mental injuries and create safe and mentally healthy workplaces?
We heard from people working on this issue for WorkSafe Victoria. They spoke about their experience supporting Victorian employers to adopt a psychosocial risk management approach in their workplaces. This includes the range of psychosocial hazards that duty holders need to address. They outlined how to access the tools and resources that make getting started easy.
There was an extended Q&A session after the presentation.

The presenter:

Madelaine Barry is a Program Officer (Psychological health programs): project manager delivering strategic interventions aimed at preventing and reducing the risk of work-related mental injury.

The presenter:

Darcy Cooper is Program Manager (WorkWell): large scale behaviour change specialist for psychological health and safety.

The presenter:

Daniel McConville is a Psychosocial Inspector: his role is to ensure that Victorian workplaces are meeting their obligation to provide a working environment that is safe and without risks to psychological health.

March 2024

Emerging OHS challenges

Presentation by: Kevin Jones , Editor, SafetyAtWorkBlog

CSG event video now available (members only)
Presentation package now available (members only)

Some of the hot topics in OHS at the moment are not directly about work health and safety. Kevin Jones discussed this at a CSG lunchtime presentation on Tuesday 12 March 2024. He covered what’s new, what’s getting attention, and some of the latest and re-emerging challenges in OHS.

His talk included comments, and recommendations of books on issues including work psychology; the management of time; troublemakers; corporate values and leadership.

The presentation was followed by a question and discussion session.

The presenter:

Kevin Jones is a consultant and advisor in a wide range of OHS projects. He is internationally recognised for his commentary and analysis on safety-related matters in his popular award-winning SafetyAtWorkBlog (safetyatworkblog.com). Kevin is a Life Member of Central Safety Group.