Encouraging staff to adopt safe workplace practices often comes down to one simple quandary: to dangle a carrot or wield a stick. While this may be an old question, there’s a new a reason we really don’t need to tie ourselves in knots over which method produces results. Behavioural science in occupational health and safety …
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It’s October, which means it’s also National Safe Work Month, and the message Safe Work Australia is hoping to spread is a simple one. The theme in 2018 is ‘A moment is all it takes’ and it aims to encourage workers to take time to think about safety every day, and share stories and issues. …
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A decade ago, the phrase “mental safety” wasn’t widely used in the workplace. In those days, most safety conversations were about donning a hard hat and steel-capped boots or clearing up a trip hazard. But today, mental health issues such as depression and anxiety are on the radar as the serious workplace issues they are. …
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Seven workers perishing right before the world’s eyes is the worst nightmare of any safety leader—and it was a life-changing event for NASA’s manager of safety programs, Dr Tracy Dillinger. In her role on the board of the Space Shuttle Independent Assessment Team for the launch of the Columbia Space Shuttle, Dillinger recommended to high-ranking …
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Flexible workforces, distributed workforces, dispersed workforces, working from home, telecommuting, the gig economy. Call it what you will, the days of the nine-to-five office jobs surrounded by your colleagues are no longer the norm. Economic imperatives, new business models and teams that can be up—or down—scaled, within hours means companies can build empires in new …
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New research by Australian academics proves what many subcontractors have assumed for years: contract workers have a different experience to their permanent counterparts and it could be putting them in danger. Griffith University Safety Science Innovation Lab head, Dr Drew Rae, says that safety is a serious issue for subcontractors. “They lack the social, structural …
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Dealing with the complexity of human experience every day comes with risk. Since 2010, volatility in the retail industry has increased by 250 percent reflecting just how dynamic and unpredictable the industry is, with problems stemming from the external environment as well as the day-to-day functioning of retail stores. Following these 5 tips can help …
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The image of a bunch of tradies standing around on a construction site doing yoga poses is an unlikely one, to say the least. But that’s what one Canberra-based organisation is encouraging. Set up in 2016, the Healthy Tradie Project works with Australian companies to introduce mindfulness, yoga sessions and food advice to workers, and …
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In June 2017, US rock climber Alex Honnold scaled the legendary 900-metre El Capitan cliff in Yosemite National Park, the first person to do so ‘free solo’, that is, alone and without ropes or safety gear. Even a quick look at the footage is terrifying: Honnold is hundreds of metres above the ground, inching himself …
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Managing shrinkage is a global challenge for retailers—and it’s impacting their bottom line. The Australian Retail Association says retail theft costs the industry up to $9.3 billion annually—that’s 3 per cent of total turnover. Elsewhere, the Global Retail Theft Barometer estimates that in Australia shoplifting is to blame for 39 per cent of stock loss, …
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