There were three themes for the 2005 OHS Reps conference, held on October 26:
- psychosocial hazards in the workplace
- consultation; and
- surveillance of workers.
The first two topics are key elements of the OHS Act 2004 and areas where OHS representatives have asked for more information, and the third is an area of increasing concern for workers and union.
Keynote speaker Gary Collis, South Australia's Employee Advocate, shared his experience of dealing with employees who are being bullied at work. Bullying is a growing problem in Victorian workplaces.
Gary’s advice is that if bullying is going on in your workplace managers need to get in early and tackle the problem. According to Gary early intervention is essential to prevent bullying becoming entrenched because it then is much more difficult to resolve. If managers take steps to tackle any inappropriate workplace behaviour early it also sends the message to all staff that such behaviour is taken seriously and is not to be encouraged by ignoring it.
Gary also pointed to the variety of factors that can lead to bullying behaviour including:
- the increased pressures now felt by workers who are often doing more with less;
- poor communication in the workplace;
- a lack of awareness of workplace expectations about acceptable and unacceptable behaviour; and
- failure by managers to promote anti bullying policies and role model respectful behaviour.
To help OHS Reps identify and deal with workplace bullying the VTHC has produced a Reps Toolkit containing a bullying checklist and strategies for tackling workplace bullying. We are now developing a 1 day refresher training package for OHS Representatives. All OHS and deputy Reps are entitled to paid refresher training leave of one day a year to upgrade skills and knowledge. See the Training section for further information about refresher training.
There were a number of speakers for each topic - see each of these below for an overview of what was covered and to view and access the speakers' powerpoint presentations.