PRINCIPALS’ OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH, SAFETY AND WELLBEING SURVEY 2019

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 …

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

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 …

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Hot weather is coming – Tips to prevent heat illness

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 …

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Home-based workers still subject to Work Safety rules

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 …

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The Reality of Stress Illnesses in Schools

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 …

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Principals Health Safety and Wellbeing Study

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 …

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NEAR MISSES – OR NEAR HITS? ARE THEY WORTH INVESTIGATING?

If we accept the basic incident model that says hazards cause or contribute to incidents, and the outcomes of incidents are variously death/injury/illness/damage/cost, then all outcomes must be after-the-event indicators of something having gone wrong. In that context they are lagging indicators. When an incident occurs but there is no measurable outcome, these tend to …

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STRETCH IT OUT

5 Ways To Stretch It Out At Your Desk If you spend most of the workweek sitting, these fast and easy desk stretches are the perfect way to add some fit to your day. It’s no secret, sitting at a desk all day is tough on your health. That’s why it’s so important to add …

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EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYMENT, DISABILITIES AND OHS

Pre-employment medical assessment of job applicants has always been a controversial subject, both from a scientific perspective and because of the risk of unfair discrimination.  So is ‘discriminating’ against employing someone on the grounds of pre-existing disability legal (and/or ethical)? Well – yes and no! In a Queensland case a number of years ago (Cambey …

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Productivity and Quality – The “Two-Sided Triangle”

A national survey of 30 of Australia’s top companies (including car makers, insurance offices, oil refineries and computer marketers) found that: … the majority of middle level managers oppose work practices that would improve quality. While senior management is keen to improve quality, middle management often resents having to bear most of the burden of …

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Common-sense is Non-sense

Common Sense is Non-Sense The trouble with common sense is that it is never common and rarely sensible                                           (Confucius) I recently appeared in the Victorian County Court as an expert witness in a civil case. I was disappointed – even saddened – that both the barrister for the plaintiff …

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