Central Safety Group Melbourne

October 2018

A Fresh Look at Safety Inspections

Presentation by: Dr Ross Donohue, Senior Lecturer, Monash University

Presentation package now available (members only)

There has been surprisingly little research done on how inspectors assess health and safety in workplaces. Although the inspectors’ task is grounded in rules and regulations, there are few standardised measures to assist them.
Dr Ross Donohue, our speaker on 9 October, has done ground-breaking work on this. He shared his research findings with us and outlined the 7-item generic OHS metric checklist he developed as a result of this research, in order to create a standardised tool to assist inspectors.
Ross also talked about the need for developing measures and training to assist OHS inspectors to assess psycho-social risk.

The presenter:

Dr Ross Donohue, Senior Lecturer, Monash University. Dr Ross Donohue works in the Faculty of Business and Economics at Monash University as a Senior Lecturer. He is currently working on a program to improve the training, competency assessment and development of safety inspectors. His other work includes developing a competency-based framework and continuing professional development program for OHS regulators.

August 2018

Taming Contractor Management

Presentation by: John Naughton

Presentation package now available (members only)

Contractor management is one of the most challenging areas of safety risk management. Contractor management systems can be onerous and complicated, leaving gaps when it comes to covering business and compliance requirements.
John Naughton and his team tackled this problem and transformed contractor management while he was Director of HSE at a major food company, and he shared his experiences at the August meeting of Central Safety Group.
He described the journey from a manual spreadsheet-based contractor management system to an easy-to-manage, efficient and flexible system embracing modern technology. This change also brought crucial new dimensions and features to the company’s system for managing contractors, and significantly, reduced administrative time and costs.

The presenter:

John Naughton has over 20 years’ experience designing, implementing and managing safety and environmental management systems for large companies. In his recent role as Director of HSE at George Weston Foods, he was responsible for a team of over 50 HSE professionals in Australia, New Zealand and the Asia Pacific region. Prior to that he was National SH&E Manager for the Baking Division of Goodman Fielder.

June 2018

The State of OHS in Victoria

Presentation by: Barry Naismith

Presentation package now available (members only)

What do the latest data and developments tell us about the current state of OHS in Victoria? Barry Naismith, who has done a keen-eyed independent analysis, shared his conclusions at the Central Safety Group lunch meeting on 12 June.
Barry was a consultant with the Victorian WorkCover Authority (now WorkSafe) for 14 years. Since then he has produced a number of independent reports into the operations and performance of WorkSafe Victoria.
He has just concluded his latest report, based on 2017, and discussed his findings and spell out some trends and predictions that are likely to be of interest to those working in OHS in Victoria.
To quote leading blogger Kevin Jones, “This level of analysis and interpretation is rarely available outside of formal academic research, and Naismith provides the all-important social and political context from which much academic occupational health and safety (OHS) research shies.” Questions, opinions and comments from the audience were welcomed.

The presenter:

Before a career in OHS, Barry Naismith worked as a journalist and editor. He spent more than 14 years with the Victorian WorkCover Authority and then worked independently as an OHS consultant. Recently this led to a position with Uniting Victoria, working on a program to reduce the impact of work harms on the community. Barry has qualifications in science from Melbourne University and media studies from RMIT.

April 2018

Reducing Manual Handling Injuries

Presentation by: Conor Healy, Manager, Work Health and Safety, Jetstar Australia New Zealand

Presentation package now available (members only)

Manual handling injuries are some of the most common and costly injuries in the workplace.
An account of how Jetstar Airways reduced these injuries by 40% was shared by Conor Healy, Manager, Work Health and Safety, Jetstar Australia New Zealand in a lunchtime presentation on 10 April.
Baggage handlers, cabin crews and engineering workshop teams all do a lot of manual handling at Jetstar, which now has 7,000 employees and is one of the world’s fastest growing airlines.
Conor developed a multi-pronged program to reduce manual handling injuries and the risk of musculoskeletal disorders for employees working in body stressing environments. In two years he has found that the program has already made a significant difference.
He discussed this program and what the airline is doing to continue to gain improvements in this area.

The presenter:

Conor Healy has been Manager, Work Health and Safety, Jetstar Australia New Zealand for three years. His background includes significant experience in areas ranging from transport with London Underground, defence with BAE Systems to logistics with Toll and working with aerospace organisations. He is a graduate of the University of Westminster in the UK and has attained an MBA in Strategy.

February 2018

Mental-Psychological Conditions & Return to Work

Presentation by: Frank Imbesi, Managing Director, AMS Consulting

Presentation package now available (members only)

Return to work for people who have suffered workplace psychological injury or illness can be a complicated and challenging process.
The best-practice approach and potential problems when helping employees recovering from mental health issues was discussed by Frank Imbesi, Managing Director of AMS Consulting, an occupational rehabilitation company.
This area is of special interest to Frank, who has been working in in the field of return-to-work planning, management and support for many years. He said that a lot is known about rehabilitation and return to work after physical injury, but far less about how to help people recovering from events or situations in the workplace that led to mental injury.
There has been a recent increase in the reporting and acceptance of mental injury conditions and claims, which has found many employers unsure and unprepared when it comes to dealing with the challenges of rehabilitation and preventing recurrence of the problem. Frank outlined a number of ways to assist employers with these challenges.

The presenter:

Frank Imbesi is Managing Director of AMS Consulting, a multi- award-wining company specialising in health and wellbeing, injury prevention, injury management, return to work consulting and human factors analysis . He began his career as a physiotherapist, working in sports medicine and clinical private practice, before moving to the field of occupational rehabilitation. Frank has consulted and presented to national and large state based employers, Scheme Agents and universities in the areas of occupational rehabilitation and best practice return to work following occupational injury. Frank has been a university lecturer and has presented in the areas of occupational injury management and best practice RTW over many years and on behalf of VWA. He has also presented at numerous conferences. He was on the organising committee for the international forum on disability management in 2014. Frank was a member of the VWA Clinical Panel providing specialist advice in the area of occupational rehabilitation peer review for the duration of the program. Frank was the recipient of the National Outstanding Achievement in RTW Award in 2017. He has also been a judge for the Australian Rehabilitation Providers Association Awards.