scholarly journals Voice and resistance: Coalminers’ struggles to represent their health and safety interests in Australia and New Zealand 1871–1925

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 513-531 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Walters ◽  
Michael Quinlan
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Occupational Health ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Mine Safety ◽  
Regulatory Oversight ◽  
Jel Codes ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Uk

The activism of coalmining unions in Australia, the UK, the USA and elsewhere securing improvements in safety including better legislation in the 19th and 20th centuries, has been widely researched and acknowledged. However, a relatively neglected aspect of this history was a campaign to secure worker inspectors (check-inspectors). These began in coalmining a century before similar measures were introduced for workers more generally as part of overhauling occupational health and safety laws in the 1970s/1980s. We document this struggle for mine safety in Australia and New Zealand, and the activities of check-inspectors in the period to 1925. Notwithstanding strong opposition from coal-owners and conservative governments, check-inspectors played an important role in safeguarding coalminers and improving the regulatory oversight of coalmines. Check-inspectors not only gave coalminers a ‘voice’ in OHS, but they also provided an exemplar of the value and legitimacy of worker’s ‘knowledge activism’. This system remains. Furthermore, the struggle is relevant to understanding contemporary debates about collective worker involvement in occupational health and safety. JEL Codes: J28, J51, J81

scholarly journals COVID-19 in the UK and Occupational Health and Safety: Predictable not Inevitable Failures by Government, and Trade Union and Nongovernmental Organization Responses

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Watterson
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Occupational Health ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Personal Protection Equipment ◽  
International Agencies ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
The Uk

This commentary examines the occupational health and safety issues faced by the UK workers in the COVID-19 pandemic, against the background of government cuts in health care and in occupational health and safety budgets, and a deregulatory climate. The UK government has been obsessed, blinkered, and distracted by the desire to leave the European Union (Brexit). The state of knowledge about the virus, especially from international agencies that identified pandemic threats and strategies to combat it, is outlined. UK politicians, government bodies, medical and scientific advisors, and employers periodically ignored or abused that knowledge. Regulatory and ministerial inaction and errors on the workplace virus risks emerged. In contrast, several trade unions, health professional bodies, and nongovernmental organizations identified COVID-19 threats from poor personal protection equipment, working practices, and knowledge gaps and offered solutions for health care workers, social care workers, production workers, and service workers in “essential” occupations.

scholarly journals The Implementation of the POPMAR (Policy, Organising, Planning and Implementing, Measuring Performance, Audit and Reviewing) Model in Occupational Health and Safety Risk Management in an Indonesian Batik Company

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 420
Author(s):  
Fandita Tonyka Maharani ◽  
Zena Lynch
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Risk Management ◽  
Occupational Health ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Hazard Identification ◽  
Population Exposure ◽  
Safety Hazards ◽  
Model Risk ◽  
The Uk

Introduction: In 2009, UNESCO declared Batik Indonesia as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This study examines the occupational health and safety hazards and risks that arise in a Batik company based on a case example of a Batik company in Surakarta, Indonesia. In Indonesia, Batik is categorized as traditional attire. Two kinds of Batik are produced - Batik tulis (traditionally handcrafted) and Batik printing, which uses specific printing tools. The UK Health Safety Executive (HSE) risk assessment framework is referred to in this study, which consists of: hazard identification, population exposure, risk evaluation, precaution development, recording findings, and regular appraisal of systems. Methods: Both observation and interviews (of workers) at the Batik company were utilized for this study as well as an independent risk assessment. Results: The findings highlighted physical, ergonomic, chemical, mechanical, and biological hazards, originating from the materials, tools, and working methods utilized in the batik production. Conclusion: Many of the issues highlighted by this study can be addressed via in-depth risk assessment, using the POPMAR model to frame the activities. This approach can create a positive pathway, leading to a continuous cycle of improvement which puts the workers’ health at the forefront of the business activities.Keywords: Batik, workers, hazard identification, HSE Model, risk management

Decriminalisation of sex work in the post-truth era? Strategic storytelling in neo-abolitionist accounts of the New Zealand model

2020 ◽  
pp. 174889582091889 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynzi Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Occupational Health ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Sex Work Policy ◽  
Knowledge Claims

In the context of on-going debates regarding sex work laws, in most jurisdictions forms of criminalisation continue to dominate. Despite decades of sex workers calling for the decriminalisation of sex work and collectively organising against repressive laws, decriminalisation remains uncommon. New Zealand was the first full country to decriminalise sex work with the passing of the Prostitution Reform Act in 2003, which aimed to improve occupational health and safety. Several empirical studies have documented positive impacts of this framework. However, despite this, neo-abolitionists persistently describe the New Zealand model as a failed approach. This article examines neo-abolitionist knowledge claims regarding the New Zealand model and in doing so unpacks the strategic stories told about this approach, considering the implications for sex work policy making.

scholarly journals Managing workplace bullying in New Zealand: Perspectives from occupational health and safety practitioners

2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 598-612 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bevan Catley ◽  
Tim Bentley ◽  
Darryl Forsyth ◽  
Helena Cooper-Thomas ◽  
Dianne Gardner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Occupational Health ◽  
Workplace Bullying ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Preventative Measures ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Free Environment

AbstractResearch into workplace bullying has only recently begun to investigate preventative measures. This paper continues that emphasis by examining the management of bullying in a sample of New Zealand organisations. In this study, the survey results from 252 occupational health and safety practitioners were analysed to examine how bullying is understood and managed, along with factors that predict preventative efforts. Results indicate that bullying was perceived to impact significantly on organisations, although the organisations had limited preventative measures in place. The findings confirm the importance of leadership and the establishment of an effective bully-free environment as preventative measures.

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