Latest on OHS for Victorian workplaces

I am just back from Day 1 of Worksafe Week at the Melbourne Museum and the key message for Victorian employers seems to be that the honeymoon period is over! Worksafe have openly declared that they aim to prosecute more cases in the next three years, as they have identified prosecution as being a major tool in accident prevention. This is vital information for small to medium sized businesses as over 93% of all registered workplaces in Victoria are SMEs and the fine for one charge can be as much as $1million.

I must say the stats are rather satisfying, with a reduction in deaths down to 16 in 2008 from 31 in 2000. Worksafe, however is looking for a 40% reduction in incidents by 2012. They are also targeting health and safety for males aged between 15-24, as they are more likely not to report an incident/injury, but instead take themselves off to hospital for treatment. Their other key focus areas will be on migrant workers, the obesity epidemic and psychological health. Apparently Australia and Scandanavia are two countries with very high rates of psychological health issues. A recent Australian study reported 1 in 5 workers will be suffering from psychological health issues.

OHS will certainly be undergoing some changes in the coming years as we move to a national OHS law. A basic outline of these changes will be revealled within the next two weeks and details of the new act are due to be finalised by May 2009. From an international perspective the key message was that we should be partnering with others in our industry so that we can share our knowledge and learn from each other. In addition, we should be developing very specific OHS Key Performance Indicators that are meaningful for middle managers (where the relationship between the HSR role and the supervisor is lacking clarification in alot of work places). And finally, we should all be developing a strong safety culture, walking the talk from top to bottom.