Central Safety Group Melbourne

February 2017

Demystifying Psychosocial Risk

Presentation by: Dr Natasha Lazareski, Managing Director, PsyFlex

Presentation package now available (members only)

The emphasis on psychosocial risk in the workplace is fairly new in the area of health, safety and wellbeing. Although there has been a huge amount of research on it globally and locally, there is limited understanding on how to assess and manage it.
The subject was discussed by occupational health specialist Dr Natasha Lazareski, who specialises in this area, at Central Safety Group's meeting on Tuesday, 14 February 2017.
She outlined what psychosocial risk is and how to assess it, and provided insight into some of the latest developments in this field.
Taking action can improve the workplace environment and culture by reducing bullying, conflict, complaints, absenteeism, poor teamwork and mental health issues.
Natasha talked about some of the most powerful and effective actions organisations can take to control the impact of work-related stress and improve the mental wellbeing of their employees.

The presenter:

Dr Natasha Lazareski is Managing Director of Psyflex, which provides expertise in workplace mental health and wellbeing. She has been Health and Wellbeing Manager for a number of organisations including National Australia Bank and Ambulance Victoria. She has also worked as a medical officer for personal injury insurance and was National Manager of CGU Workers Compensation Injury Management Services. Through Psyflex Natasha now develops programs for businesses in a range of industries as well as government organisations, schools, and health and emergency services.

October 2016

Safety: Trade or profession?

Presentation by: Leo Ruschena, Senior Lecturer OHS, RMIT University

Presentation package now available (members only)

It’s both trade and profession, according to Leo Ruschena, Senior Lecturer OHS, RMIT University and Chair, Technical Committee of the Australian OHS Education Accreditation Board.
Leo talked about how safety education and accreditation are going through a process of major reform. This includes developing a uniform system of knowledge, accreditation of universities and certification of individuals. This has led to some confusions and gaps, including problems with the role of TAFE in safety education and certification.
He also discussed the current (controversial) move to ‘professionalise the profession’, which will require safety professionals to have accreditation the same as engineers, doctors and accountants.

The presenter:

Leo Ruschena was previously Director of Human Resources at WorkSafe Victoria and before that held senior roles in human resources and OHS with several utility companies. He has bachelors degrees in chemical engineering and economics from the University of Queensland, a Masters in Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene from the University of London and a Masters in Industrial and Employee Relations from Monash University.

August 2016

What safety success looks like – across industry sectors

Presentation by: Rocky Armstrong, Group Manager, Health, Safety, Environment and Quality, AusNet Services

Presentation package now available (members only)

What are some of the key things successful organisations do to achieve a high performance in health and safety? How would your workplace rate?
This was discussed by Rocky Armstrong, basing his observations on his experience in his current role and previous job as Asia Pacific Head of Safety with Linfox, the international logistics and supply chain company.
At Linfox, Rocky was involved with a wide range of safety programs in companies across different sectors, including BlueScope Steel, Unilever, Tesco, bhp Billiton, ExxonMobil and more.
He talked about lessons and insights this gave him on safety strategy, leadership and culture.
Rocky also provided a scorecard with key elements of success and invited the audience to participate in a self-assessment exercise based on their workplace experience.

The presenter:

He is currently Group Manager, Health, Safety, Environment and Quality with Ausnet Services, the energy delivery service business that owns and operates Victoria's largest network of electricity and gas infrastructure. He previously worked with Linfox, and was Asia Pacific Head of Health and Safety. Linfox has over 20,000 people operating in 10 countries and is exposed to a diverse risk profile. Rocky completed tertiary studies in science, occupational health and safety and management before completing his MBA at Melbourne Business School.

June 2016

Workplace aggression – prevention and management

Presentation by: Tiffany Plummer, Aggression Coordinator, St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne

Presentation package now available (members only)

Workplace aggression, or occupational violence, is an issue today for many organisations that deal with the public.
Tiffany Plummer discussed the problem and strategies to help prevent and manage it at Central Safety Group's meeting on the 14th June, 2016.
She is responsible for programs at St Vincent's to train employees in aggression prevention and management strategies, and investigates critical incidents of aggression.
Tiffany also runs programs to help strengthen the resilience of hospital employees. There is an increasing call for such programs as healthcare workers and other service providers today deal with a decline in civility by the public.
St Vincent’s Hospital has been a pioneer in strategies for dealing with occupational violence for 20 years, and Tiffany’ current role was created in 2010.

The presenter:

In addition to her role as Aggression Coordinator Tiffany is also coordinator of St Vincent's Hospital’s successful Star Program for peer-to-peer support. This program provides employees with trained colleagues to help them deal with stress in the workplace. They are available 24 hours a day to offer one-on-one support to workmates experiencing stressful events, provide information and referrals and facilitate team debriefing sessions e.g. after the death of a patient. Tiffany has been with St Vincent’s Hospital for 27 years, working as an Emergency Care nurse before moving to the OHS department.

April 2016

A more direct approach to safety (V/line and its employees)

Presentation by: Sylvia Hudson, Manager, People Safety, Health & Wellbeing, V/Line

Presentation package now available (members only)

Having a safety strategy in place is not enough – what can you do to ensure employees are aligned with it?
Sylvia Hudson outlined a different and more direct approach being taken by V/Line, Australia’s largest regional public transport operator.
She discussed her organisation’s new “Destination Zero” safety program and the reasons why it was needed. It is a program that has to serve a workforce ranging from highly skilled technical personnel at head office to drivers and signal operators and to track work gangs in remote locations across the State. Sylvia described how V/Line is working to strengthen its employees’ connection to safety, responding to issues revealed by workplace surveys. This includes using simpler language, changing the subject emphasis and balancing the human element with the focus on compliance.

The presenter:

Before joining V/Line in late 2014, Sylvia was responsible for safety at Citywide, which delivers physical services to councils, mainly along the Eastern seaboard. Prior to that she had a national safety role with Visy and has worked in a number of manufacturing organisations, such as Trico and GM Holden. Sylvia has spent time working in the warehousing, transport and distribution sector and has experience in developing a Safety Management System for a greenfield operation. Sylvia’s passion for safety first developed while working as a shoemaker in a manufacturing plant, complemented through time spent as an HSR. This led to her studying for a safety qualification and becoming a full-time safety professional in the 1990s.