Unions have done a disservice to the OHS discipline by not clearly communicating when a workplace matter is OHS or Industrial, to the extent that they can.

If you listen to union officers they state that they are \”looking out for the pay and conditions of workers\”. \”Conditions\”, in which OHS sits, is almost always spoken in an undertone after \”pay\”. I have always been frustrated by this because worker safety has the much stronger moral argument than money. Given that unionism is often opposed to unfettered capitalism it is odd that the unon puts so much ideological emphasis on money.

The Tristar case above indicates poor management in a large range of areas. I hope it becomes a case study in unionism, buisness management and human resources

It\’s been a long standing issue for debate, the one about OH&S ain\’t industrial relations. I think it\’s a silly debate, or at least it\’s debated in a confused way. Clearly negotiating for better safety conditions is about the business of workers and bosses coming to an agreement, clearly that comes within the aegis of industrial relations. I think too much play is made of those stories of pernickity OH&S issues coming up in a workplace, the ones where an OH&S procedure is applied to the letter and seems to be a bit nutty. But the facts speak for themselves. I reckon it\’s pretty well universally accepted that a unionised workplace, on the whole, will have better a safety record than a non-unionised one. I think we\’re better off keeping our eye on that \”big picture\” outcome vs focussing on glitches.