King Gee recently released a range of work clothing that is manufactured using a technique that reduces the wearer’s body odour. A sample was sent to SafetyAtWorkBlog unrequested. For those tradespeople with a body odour issue, the clothing may be a godsend, maybe more so for the people they have to work with. … Continue reading “Okay, I don’t smell but am I safe?”
Businesses thrive on the concept of return on investment (ROI) but it has been very hard to apply this to training in workplace safety and SafetyatWorkBlog can only provide clues to this relationship. Training is an important component in any company’s safety management program but it will not solve all OHS ills, regardless of the claims of … Continue reading “Does OHS training work?”
On 15 December 2009, a New Zealand Court penalised two companies and a director with fines totalling over $NZ390,000 over an explosion in a coolstore that result in the death of one firefighter and injuries to others. In the comments section of a previous blog article the following questions were put to the New Zealand … Continue reading “Update on New Zealand cool store explosion”
According to the WorkSafe Victoria website, changes to the Accident Compensation Act were introduced to the Victorian Parliament on 10 December 2009. WorkSafe is very confident that the changes will be passed. The summary only talks about “when” the bill is passed. There is every likelihood it will be passed but the summary has a tinge … Continue reading “Accident Comp changes put to Victorian Parliament”
WorkSafe Western Australia and the other OHS regulators in Australia have produced a very good, and timely, guideline for the “Prevention and Management of Aggression in Health Services“. The hazard has existed for many years and hospitals, in particular, are torn between the competing priorities of keeping their staff safe and maintaining contact with their clients. … Continue reading “New guidelines on aggression in health care”
WorkCover in South Australia has released a discussion paper for public comment on 9 November 2009. The paper is called “Consultation on a new framework for employer incentives” and poses the following questions: Do you think there should be any financial incentives for employers in relation to workers rehabilitation and compensation? What do you think about the … Continue reading “Fixing what is broken”
In October 2009 a workshop was held on worker safety by the Worker Education and Training Program (WETP), a part of the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Many of the topics raised in the workshop – REACH, Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals, and nanotechnology would be issues or … Continue reading “EHS workshop report and Australian nanoparticles reports”