SafetyAtWorkBlog

This episode explores a major shift in workplace health and safety: Victoria’s new psychological safety regulations, effective December 1st. With no transition period and no room for delay, employers now face a clear legal duty to prevent psychological harm—not just manage it. The discussion breaks down the regulator’s Compliance Code, the hierarchy of control, and the implications for HR and OHS teams. It challenges outdated wellness approaches and highlights the need for proactive psychosocial risk management. A must-listen for safety professionals, business leaders, and anyone navigating the evolving landscape of workplace mental health.

This episode explores the overlooked and often misunderstood world of occupational health and safety in Australia’s sex work industry.

Drawing on 18 years of reporting and analysis from SafetyAtWorkBlog, the discussion highlights how stigma, legal ambiguity, and political inertia have left sex workers exposed to physical and psychosocial risks. From violence and poor ventilation to regulatory neglect and exclusion from mainstream safety systems, the hazards are real—and the solutions require more than generic compliance tools.

The episode argues for a co-designed, rights-based approach to safety—one that centres sex workers’ voices, funds peer-led programs, and treats sex work as legitimate work. Because when workers are treated as second-class citizens, safety systems follow suit.

14,000 tuned in to WorkSafe Victoria’s webinar on new psychological health regulations—taking effect December 1, 2025, with no transition period. This episode unpacks the urgency, the compliance code, and the cultural resistance to real change. From retail violence to “adequate resourcing,” we explore what’s mandatory, what’s missing, and why reactive safety won’t cut it anymore.

This episode explores how language—particularly verbs—shapes perceptions of leadership and commitment in political and workplace safety contexts. From the AUKUS submarine announcement to COVID-era vaccine pledges, it examines the use of “soft” verbs that dilute responsibility and obscure intent.

Drawing parallels with occupational health and safety legislation and corporate risk management, the discussion highlights how vague phrasing can undermine trust, accountability, and action.

It asks: when leaders speak in caveats, what kind of leadership are they really offering?

This podcast examines who truly shapes safety on infrastructure worksites — and why the client often holds the decisive power. The episode explains how client decisions on budgets, timelines and procurement set the incentives that drive safety culture, why current procurement and political pressures frequently prioritise cost over worker protection, and how embedding minimum OHS standards into tendering and project design can materially reduce harm. Practical policy and procurement reforms are highlighted as evidence-informed ways governments and other clients can use their legal and financial levers to prevent injuries and deaths. Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog on SoundCloud for more episodes and in-depth analysis of workplace health and safety.

This episode explores the evolving concept of workplace safety, inspired by Matthew Hallowell’s book "Energy-Based Safety". The discussion expands on traditional safety frameworks, highlighting the importance of considering not only physical hazards but also the impact of emotional energy and psychological harm in the workplace. Topics include the idea of “Hazardous Human Interaction”, the role of psychological safety, and the need to recognize emotional injuries as genuine safety failures.

Listeners are encouraged to reflect on how workplace interactions can affect well-being and to broaden their understanding of what constitutes a serious injury or fatality in modern work environments.

In this episode, I reflect on RMIT University’s inaugural SHINe Symposium—an overbooked, research-driven event that brought international safety experts to Melbourne during Safe Work Month. From Dr Matthew Hallowell’s insights into the Construction Safety Research Alliance (CSRA) to Professor Michelle Turner’s call for systemic change in mental health, this episode explores how evidence-based research is reshaping Australia’s approach to serious injury and fatality (SIF) prevention.

It’s a thoughtful, sector-savvy look at how collaboration, leadership, and research are driving the next wave of occupational health and safety reform.

In this episode, I explore a critical question: If clients—especially government bodies—hold so much influence over workplace safety, why aren’t we using it to protect workers? I discuss how clients set project budgets, timelines, and standards, yet often fail to enforce basic safety protections. I challenge the common excuses about cost and disruption, arguing that real leadership means setting, funding, and enforcing higher safety standards. Drawing on research and my own practical experience, I call on government clients to act as true duty holders and shape a safer work culture.

Join me, Kevin Jones, I share a candid audio summary reflecting on a recent webinar about psychological safety in the workplace.

In this episode, I critique the dominance of HR concepts and pop psychology in safety discussions, highlighting the lack of focus on legal obligations and genuine psychosocial hazards. I explore the need for better integration between OHS and HR, especially as new psychosocial regulations emerge, and calls for more rigorous research and collaboration to address workplace mental health risks.

Tune in for honest insights on the state of workplace safety culture, the challenges of Safe Work Month, and why psychosocial safety is more than just best practice—it’s a legal requirement.

If you enjoy this episode, consider subscribing to SafetyAtWorkBlog for more in-depth articles and resources on workplace health and safety.

Kevin Jones explores the political tensions and evolving landscape of workplace health and safety in Australia, tracing the journey from the heated OHS harmonisation debates of 2010—when NSW Premier Kristina Keneally clashed with the federal government—through to today’s renewed focus on psychosocial hazards, union rights, and regulatory reform.

This Safe Work Month episode discusses pivotal moments in state and federal cooperation, the myth versus reality of harmonised safety laws, the rise of mental health as a workplace priority, the expanding power of unions, and NSW’s ongoing push for regulatory autonomy, all while asking tough questions about the future of worker protection, national consistency, and the values that underpin our safety systems.

Subscribe to SafetyAtWorkBlog for more analysis and join the conversation on the future of work health and safety in Australia.