Fruit and vegetable company SPC has decided to make COVID19 vaccinations mandatory for its entire staff and visitors, in a first for corporate Australia. SPC has given its staff and contractors six weeks to get their first job if they want to come to work. But the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU) says SPC has failed to properly consult over the demand to make vaccination mandatory. 
Featured: Robert Giles, chief executive SPC; Peter Ryan, ABC.

SPC mandates worker vaccinations - but union says staff should not bear brunt of failed rollout

Organisations across the globe are trying to motivate as many employees as possible to get the vaccine. Many are offering incentives while some are starting to mandate vaccines where many feel public health orders have stopped short – but at what cost?

In this podcast our panel of experts discussed the key issues that arise with this complex topic. What do employers need to consider in developing their approach? Will it be a lawful and reasonable direction for employers to mandate vaccinations? How are companies encouraging their employees to vaccinate? What do employers need to consider once they have decided their policy? 
 
This podcast briefing is also available to watch as a video, which you can access here https://www.herbertsmithfreehills.com/latest-thinking/australian-employment-industrial-relations-and-safety-webinars

By Wendy Fauvel, Mark Rigotti, Nicholas Ogilvie, Nerida Jessup and Alissa Anderson.

Australian EIRS EP19 | Employment & IR Briefing Series: Mandating Vaccines at Work

This episode examines Australia’s current focus on Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs) in workplace safety reform, questioning whether this emphasis accurately reflects the diversity of Australian workplaces. It highlights concerns about the lack of comprehensive national data on HSRs, the potential for survey bias, and the need for a more inclusive, evidence-based consultation approach that considers non-union workers, small businesses, and sectors where HSRs are less common. The discussion encourages a broader perspective on occupational health and safety, advocating for reforms that reshape workplace culture by listening to all voices, not just the most prominent.

SAWB - HSRs and Best Practice

Hot work dehydrates employees. A urine color chart can help workers monitor hydration by checking the shade of yellow. So says government agency NIOSH.

Get the chart and more: www.thesafetybrief.com/hot-work-you-need-a-urine-color-chart

Hot Work? You Need A Urine Color Chart

“Safety culture” is top priority for every safety manager these days, but how to shape a culture is a continual challenge. Most of the time, the focus is on the attitudes of managers and supervisors that work directly with workers and improving employee engagement, but a successful safety culture also requires the most senior leaders of an organization to provide effective safety leadership. But what does that leadership look like and what are the obstacles to achieving success?
On today’s EHS on Tap, we discuss senior management’s role in creating a solid safety culture with Adam Levesque, a safety management consultant at MEMIC, a Workers Compensation Specialty Insurer.
You can join Adam at BLR's Safety Culture 2017, being held this September in Austin, Texas for his presentation "Team-Based Accountability’s Connection to Leading Indicators: Using Effective Metrics to Drive Employee Participation and Accident Prevention."  Safety Culture 2017 (safetyculture.blr.com) is the nation's most targeted event on safety culture improvement to increase engagement, strengthen compliance, and create more alignment between staff and safety initiatives.

E20: The Role of Senior Management in Workplace Safety  Culture

This weekend is the International Workers Memorial Day.  It is highly likely that the issue of Industrial Manslaughter laws will be raised as part of a trade union campaign.

Dr Gerry Ayres, the OHS&E Manager of one of the branches of the CFMEU, features in an online petition about these laws and it seemed the right time to interview Dr Ayres about these laws but also about workplace health and safety enforcement and practices more generally.

Safety At Work Talks - Episode 7

SafetyAtWorkBlog is an award-winning blog written in Australia that reports on, and discusses, a range of issues that relate to workplace safety.  These articles touch on Human Resources, Industrial Relations, stress, politics, organisational culture, workplace death, gender, and a large number of issues that affect how we work and how we manage our workers and our leaders.