There has been a strong start to 2024 for the national HSE job market, with a 12.5 per cent increase in contracting opportunities and high demand for senior-level HSE professionals, according to recent research. While there was an expected seasonal slowdown over the Christmas period, employers began their hiring processes much earlier than usual after the break.
WHS professionals are in a crucial position to influence all pillars of an organisation’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy, according to an expert in the area. While the most obvious impact is in the area of physically and psychologically safe workplaces, the influence of WHS extends well beyond employee safety and reducing workplace incidents.
Any attempts by companies to rebrand engineered stone as another product to intentionally avoid the upcoming ban on engineered stone was recently condemned by federal, state and territory WHS ministers. WHS regulators should also take strong compliance and enforcement action about the ban, including addressing instances of rebranding engineered stone as a different product, according to the ministers.
One of the most significant barriers to psychosocial risk management is the competing interests of human resources and OHS around worker consultation, according to an expert in the area. For HR, the employee engagement or culture survey is the function’s primary way of understanding employee commitment and productivity drivers, and HR can be reluctant to add in new surveys to assess psychosocial risk, said Jason van Schie, managing director of psychological health and safety consultancy Flourish Dx.
