Tom McIvor

The report of the latest Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey makes very interesting reading – and notes the disgraceful situations of principals being punched, kicked, headbutted, bitten, spat at, stabbed with scissors or pencils and having school furniture flung at them. The survey has run nationally every year since 2011 in response …

PRINCIPALS’ OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH, SAFETY AND WELLBEING SURVEY 2019 Read More »

Do you work full or part-time from home? If so, you’re not alone – it is estimated that within the next few years, up to 50 per cent of employees will be working full or part-time, remotely – particularly from their homes. One of the main challenges for people working from home is achieving an …

WORKING AT HOME WITH THE KIDS ON HOLIDAYS? HERE ARE FOUR TIPS FOR COPING Read More »

Working in warm to hot conditions is a serious safety concern. Thousands of workers become sick every year from exposure to heat. Some even die. Heat illnesses and death are preventable if you learn to identify the warning signs and take the appropriate action. Heat stress is the general term used to describe heat-generated illnesses …

Hot weather is coming – Tips to prevent heat illness Read More »

OSHA’s CEO and Principal Consultant Dr David McIvor has addressed the 2019 national conference of the ‘Health Excellence Institute of Australia’. His talk focussed on “Work Safety in Health Care”. To see his paper, CLICK HERE. Themes covered in the paper included: Major sources of work-related injuries, illnesses and claims in the healthcare sector Inherent …

Work Safety in HealthCare Read More »

… and if not, what can we do to reduce the risks? While mobile phone technology is absorbing a great deal of peoples’ time and money and is undoubtedly distracting, especially while driving, most of us see this technology as useful. However, most of us also are aware of the somewhat vague warnings of risks of brain tumours which implies, for some, deadly …

ARE MOBILE PHONES SAFE? Read More »

Are you working full or part-time from home, or other remote working location? If so, you’re not alone. You still have a right to be able to do your work in a healthy and safe way, in a healthy and safe workplace.  The legal duties (on your employer – and you) under the WHS Act …

WORKING FROM HOME? Read More »

DAVID MCIVORTHE AUSTRALIANNOVEMBER 29, 2014THE increasing number of people working from home is a feature of modern life.Some people run home-based businesses. New mums work from home while looking after young children. And more employers are allowing, even encouraging, employees to work from home rather than come into a main workplace. With a National Broadband Network, working from …

Home-based workers still subject to Work Safety rules Read More »

Hundreds of people in the teaching profession every year break down under the strains.  Globally the teaching profession is recognised as imposing high levels of metal and psychological strains.  The consequences of this in modern Australia are becoming increasingly stark as the data on the numbers of principals and teachers experiencing psychological breakdown – and the …

The Reality of Stress Illnesses in Schools Read More »

It is now well understood that sustained high levels of stress can have serious physical and mental health consequences including starkly shortened life expectancy. In 2011 British research into the prevalence of work related metal illness reported that “work related stress was higher in education than across all other industries… with work-related mental ill-health almost …

Principals Health Safety and Wellbeing Study Read More »

The use of digital devices, including personal computers, tablets and cell phones, continues to increase.  And, the impact of prolonged usage can often be felt in the eye. Research shows computer eye problems are common. Somewhere between 50% and 90% of people who work at a computer screen occasionally have at least some symptoms of …

COMPUTERS AND YOUR EYESIGHT Read More »