My Blog Site

whsblog.com OHS and Safety

My Blog Site whsblog.com

Anything of interest to the OHS Committee in NSW,

People at work, Safety, Travel and anything quirky or funny.

Harassment does not have to be during office hours

Who is looking after those that look after us.

Auditor reports failure of OHS

Occupational health and safety (OHS) covers staff health, safety and welfare in the workplace. OHS is particularly important in public hospitals because major hazards exist—such as exposure to infectious and chemical agents, manual handling of patients and materials, slips, trips, falls, and occupational violence.

Work and Obesity! Is there a correlation between the two.

William Edward Deming (1900 - 1993)

2013 marks the 20th anniversary of William Edward Deming, a great thinker and teacher. Perhaps time to take another look at dome of his ideas and to see their relevance in the 21st century. See also the Plan_Do_Check_Act cycle

Why did the Chicken Cross the Road

High visibility vests for the well dressed chook

The High Court has decided, a public servant injured during sex session, is not entitled to Compo.'

Injury in a hotel bedroom after a vigorous bout of "non-sleeping" has been ruled to be not subject to workers compensation

Federal Court decision supports HSR’s role in workplace dispute

The recent Federal Court decision in AMWU v Visy Packaging Pty Ltd (No 3) [2013] FCA 525 demonstrates the careful balancing act an employer faces when disciplining an employee for misconduct where the employee has raised safety concerns.

The Incidence of Accepted Workers’ Compensation Claims for Mental Stress in Australia

In April of 2013, Safe Work Australia published their first report devoted to work-related mental stress.

New Zealand to adopt Australian WHS law

On Wednesday 7 August 2013, the Government announced a package of reforms that represent the most significant changes to our workplace health and safety system since the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 (HSEA) was introduced over 20 years ago…….

Too odd to be true

Sometimes you get stories on the internet that are just too off beat to be true, although they claim to be true. Here are some of those stories however first a warning....... I read the first story whilst recovering from heart surgery. I still remember the pain caused by a deep belly laugh…….

a) And that is how I broke my collar bone

b) Whorehouse sues local church over lightening strike.

Health and Safety Consultant fined for not being suitably qualified

An English health and safety consultant has been fined for failing to spot potential dangers at a factory where a worker became chronically ill through inhaling high levels of chemicals……

Prison term for employee caught lying about work safety.

A Louisiana man will spend time in prison for lying about worker injuries at Tennessee Valley Authority nuclear facilities, allowing his company to collect $2.5 million in safety bonuses……

Sex discrimination proven … awarded less than a box of matches.

How much is a proven case of sexual discrimination worth in the workplace?

A case in Guangzhou, China recently answered that question. 1 RMB or about AU$ 0.17…

Don’t get Cross About Wearing a Cross

There have been a few cases recently about the right to display religious symbols, and the decisions of the courts have not always been the same………

OHS and safety blog

Newsletter

◦	2018 Q1
◦	2017 Q4
◦	September 2017
◦	August 2017
◦	July 2017
◦	June 2017

Whats New

◦	Older newbies

I Speak My Mind

◦	Do you drop your dacks at work
◦	Whats for breakfast
◦	Go Home. Stop those long overtime hours
◦	Benifits of Booze
◦	Stop Laughing and start living
◦	Don’t become a victim of the ‘Streisand Effect’
◦	Tell the boss to turn-it-down
◦	Coffe, Cancer and Chaos
◦	Weddings should be banned
◦	The Laws of the Universe - or Murphy was an Optomist
◦	Is it time to tell the boss to get ..........

The Law - Act, Regulations, Codes of Practice

Case studies - WHS through the cases - Australia

◦	Record NSW WHS Penalty
◦	Who is Engaged as a Worker?
◦	Record Victorian penalty
◦	When are you at work?
◦	Fall at work. $688,000 compensation
◦	Record penalty against businessman for underpayment
◦	Rise in manslaughter cases
◦	Ladder use - training not required
◦	Make sure that your defence team knows the right numbers
◦	Telling a ‘porky’ won’t bring home the bacon
◦	Employment agency not vicariously liable
◦	Tourist dies whilst on tour in Northern Territory
◦	The cost of failing
◦	Suspended gaol term
◦	Enforceable undertaking
◦	Lifting of boxes is part of normal office work
◦	Should you be terminated for swearing at the boss, or kissing a colleague
◦	Who is NOT an officer of a PCBU.
◦	Powers of WorkCover NSW to force a company to produce documents
◦	Ensuring safety
◦	Can unreasonable behaviour be insured
◦	Is it forseeable?
◦	Employee responsible for own safety.
◦	HSR loses unfair dismissal case
◦	Transport company, and the director, fined for false records
◦	Hume doors enforceable undertaking
◦	Theft_of_data
◦	What_is_reasonable
◦	When a frolic is not compensatable!
◦	117 Workers found guilty
◦	Fired for doing a chicken dance
◦	Sexual harassment worker wins after appeal
◦	Enforceable Undertaking in glass factory
◦	Injured worker caught playing competative basketball
◦	Claim 19 years after death
◦	Throwing Stones – Not the Right Answer
◦	Employer beats OHS charge
◦	Beware of hot water before you land in it.
◦	Is 'lippy' a cure for bullying?
◦	Does a principal contractor have a responsibility to train a sub-contractor
◦	What constitutes 'reasonable'
◦	Be Polite
◦	Big payout for sexual harassment
◦	Sex not work - High Court decides
◦	Court defends HSR's actions
◦	What is acceptable alternative work
◦	Worker crushed by machine safe system failed
◦	Is it work? The courts don't always agree
◦	Proceedures prevent stress related claim
◦	How not to break an egg
◦	A driver slips while exiting cab
◦	Is drinking coffee work?
◦	Lifting copy paper nets almost $240k
◦	Reliance on subcontractors
◦	Baida Chickens
◦	Machinery supplier fined over amputation
◦	Director is not 'too remote' from the company
◦	The Kirk Case
◦	Bunnings and the Potting Mix
◦	Hazardous Hairdresser and OHS
◦	Robbery at Franklins
◦	Employee Cops a Fine
◦	Fosters $1.25m penalty
◦	Planking
◦	Employer guilty of Discrimination
◦	Self employed - Safety for the disobedient
◦	Controll of an abbatoir - safety breach
◦	OHS and Hazardous data entry
◦	No consultation breaches OHS

Stories from around the world

◦	Star Wars Film Producers Prosecuted
◦	Electromagnetic fields harmful to your health
◦	Warning to Welders
◦	A big payout for two four two letter words
◦	Green Tea can improve brain function
◦	Don't bully the boss
◦	When is a mother not a mother
◦	Obesity and work - the connection
◦	New Zealand to adopt Australian WHS law
◦	How I Broke My Collar Bone
◦	The church thatdoes not believe in prayer, and the whore house that does
◦	OHS Consultant fined for being unqualified
◦	Prison for OHS fraud
◦	What is sex discrimination worth?
◦	Don't get Cross about a Cross
◦	Fired for being too sexy
◦	Is lactation a condition of pregnancy
◦	Email From Home results in sacking
◦	Compo case while working from home
◦	Top ten US causes of workplace injury
◦	Drug testing and the story of a false 'you know what'
◦	Does your company have a love contract?
◦	Importance of PPE when smashing plates
◦	Unknown worker retires
◦	The crazy world of Britain's OHS Regulations
◦	Buffered for Morale, or getting it all off

Stories from around Australia

◦	Who is looking after those that look after us.
◦	Drug vapours threaten life of police officer
◦	Urine testing banned
◦	Discriminatory Conduct
◦	Coles fined $170 000
◦	Unfair Dismissals
◦	Sex on a business trip
◦	Director acquitted and charged after appeal
◦	Telstra employee injured while working from home
◦	Jail sentence for OHS offence
◦	20 20 Hindsight
◦	OHS in a Brothel
◦	Crane company fined for slicing house in half
◦	Equipment Suppliers Responsibility

Resources

◦	Pin Decision Tree
◦	Site Inspection Form

Communication

◦	Impromptu Speaking
◦	Retorts and Witticisms
◦	Washington Post Word competition
◦	Quotes1
◦	Quotes2
◦	Quote3

Legislation- codes of practice - fact sheets

◦	Legislation and Codes of Practice
◦	Fact Sheets and Statistics
◦	WHS Decision Tree

Accident Investigation and Reporting and Management Theories

◦	The concept of empowerment
◦	The Heinrich Law
◦	The five why technique
◦	Fishbone or 'Ishikawa technique'
◦	William_Edwards_Deming
◦	P_D_C_A
◦	Risk_Matrix

Just for fun

◦	SDS for hazardous material:- Man and Woman
◦	Murphy was an optomist
◦	OHS Humour
◦	Jokes you could tell in church
◦	When U Black, You Black
◦	Brain Teasers
◦	BrainTeaser 1
◦	BrainTeaser 2
◦	BrainTeaser 3
◦	BrainTeaser 4
◦	BrainTeaser 5
◦	BrainTeaser 6

Signs and Photographs

◦	Illusions
◦	Posters
◦	Transport
◦	Stupid Signs
◦	Working at Height
◦	Not a good idea
◦	Electrical
◦	Wrong tool
◦	Overloaded
◦	Building sites and builders

Workers’ Compensation Claims for Mental Stress

Privacy

Site Map

All information is of a general nature. Readers are advied to make their own enquiries before relying on any material in these pages