Central Safety Group Melbourne

August 2014

Victoria's Emergency Management Reform

Presentation by: Tony Murphy, Director of Capability and Response, Emergency Management Victoria

Presentation package now available (members only)

Emergency Management Victoria (EMV) was launched on 1 July as a single authority to coordinate all State emergency services’ response to emergencies and disasters. It is the first of its kind in Australia and represents a step change in emergency management by the State.
Tony Murphy, Director of Capability and Response, Emergency Management Victoria, presented to Central Safety Group on August 12, 2014, and spoke about the creation of this new authority in the wake of emergencies, such as Black Saturday. Reports highlighted shortfalls in integration between the emergency service agencies and so EMV was created to address this.
Tony outlined the agency’s brief, which includes reaching out and working in conjunction with communities and business as well as Government as a whole, not just agencies involved with emergency services.
Tony also explained the newly-established control arrangements for response to Class 1 emergencies, as well as the incident management structure.
As a result of this integration, the approach to health and safety requires an overhaul. It is a key agenda item for EMV and is being led from the top. Tony said there was recognition of the importance of aligning operational standards and procedures and having a joined-up, consistent approach to health and safety across the different emergency service agencies.

June 2014

Advances in Harmonised OHS Legislation

Presentation by: Rhonda Murray, Director, National Fraud Response Unit and Regional Services Vic/Tas, Comcare

Presentation package now available (members only)

Advances in harmonised OHS legislation and the widening role of Comcare were outlined by Comcare Director Rhonda Murray at Central Safety Group's meeting on June 17, 2014.
In a move designed to widen access to the national Comcare workers compensation scheme, the Federal Government, in March this year, announced proposed legislative changes that would allow private sector organisations, who work across State borders, to be regulated by Comcare, which was originally set up to cover public sector employees. Rhonda discussed various aspects of this proposed legislation and the implications of new rules.
Rhonda also spoke about new approaches already being adopted by Comcare to be more procative when dealing with workplaces.

April 2014

Are we measuring safety performance the right way?

Presentation by: Conor O’Malley, Director, Global Safety Index - Safety Culture and Leadership Insights

Presentation package now available (members only)

Conor O’Malley, Director, Global Safety Index – Safety Culture and Leadership Insights, spoke at Central Safety Group’s meeting on 8 April, 2014, and discussed how measures and data collection usually fail to give insight into the safety climate, culture capability or competence of an organisation.
The Global Safety Index – GSI - has captured some useful findings with its Culture and Leadership surveys on what companies were doing well, as well as where the gaps lay. Conor discussed some survey findings in detail and the broad picture was that outputs were driven by culture, and that culture was driven by leadership.

The presenter:

Conor O'Malley has coached and led teams all his career as an Executive GM, with a strong supply chain background. His previous roles have been Chief Operating Officer for Glen Cameron Storage and Distribution, GM Logistics for Coles and the Group Executive at National Foods, responsible for Group Safety, Procurement, Shared Services, Logistics and Planning. Prior to coming to Australia in 2006 his career in the UK spanned 3rd Party Logistics and Wholesale supply chain management. He has a passion for strong safety leadership and, having had Executive accountability for safety in the Logistics and Manufacturing sectors, he has had success in leading organisations on a journey using leadership and culture as core drivers of that success. In 2013 he joined Global Safety Index as Sales and Distribution Director to support the co-founding Directors grow the business and is now on the Advisory Board.

October 2013

How CEOs, Executives and Boards can be assisted to drive OHS culture

Presentation by: Professor David Caple, OHS Consultant and Adjunct Professor, Centre for Ergonomics & Human Factors, La Trobe University, David Caple & Associates

Presentation package now available (members only)

Boards and executive teams can play a crucial role in driving safety culture. They are usually strongly motivated and interested and they place high importance on their organisation having a sound safety record. They also now have accountability under the WHS Act 2011 to ensure that health and safety obligations are met. That was the message from Professor David Caple in a lunchtime talk to Central Safety Group on 8 October, 2013.
David shared his experiences engaging with boards and senior executives. An observation he made was that, while keen to demonstrate safety culture leadership, boards often lack ideas on how to do this. David provided a number of very practical suggestions for OHS Managers, including how to assist their senior executive by presenting them with an OHS strategy.

The presenter:

Professor David Caple, who has a background as an ergonomist, has been a leading figure in occupational health and safety in Australia for many years. 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 is an OHS consultant and Adjunct Professor, Centre for Ergonomics & Human Factors, La Trobe University.

August 2013

Enforceable Undertaking: A catalyst for culture change

Presentation by: Maree Thomson, Safety Improvement Facilitator, Australian Air Express (AaE)

Presentation package now available (members only)

Accepting an enforceable undertaking (or EU) with Comcare as an alternative to prosecution for a safety breach proved a valuable exercise in improving OH&S decision making and safety culture for freight company Australian Air Express (AaE). This was the topic of a lunchtime presentation to Central Safety Group on August 13, 2013, by Maree Thomson, the company’s Safety Improvement Facilitator.
Maree said the company committed to review and rectify not only the specific factors which contributed to the incident, but also to conduct a critical review of all components of its safety management system and safety culture. It did this with the help of a highly successful collaborative project with the Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC), Australia’s leading transport safety research centre. Maree said the findings from this research were challenging for the company to hear, but very constructive.

The presenter:

Maree Thomson’s position as National Environment Health and Safety Manager Australia Air Express (AaE) commenced in 1999 after the company had recently acquired a Self-Insurance Licence. The experience was wide and varied having been involved in major project work with the building and fit-out of freight processing centres on the eastern seaboard, downsizing during the GFC, a demerger and the retail section being transferred to Star Track. In November 2012, Qantas acquired 100% ownership of AaE and Maree became Safety Improvement Faciltiator working with the Corporate Safety and Compliance team. Her task was to manage the implementation of findings from a research project undertaken by Monash University Accident Research Centre around cultural change. Prior to this, her health and safety experience was in food manufacturing.