Safety In Action Conference scheduled for May 2006

An Australian Exhibitions and Conferences product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Feb 28, 2006

New workplace safety laws, high profile accident investigations and the threat of terrorism will feature at Safety In Action Conference when it is held from 16 to 18 May 2006 in Melbourne, Australia.

New workplace safety laws, high profile accident investigations and the threat of terrorism will feature at Safety In Action Conference when it is held from 16 to 18 May 2006 in Melbourne, Australia.

Now in its ninth year, the Conference, which is hosted by the Safety Institute of Australia, continues to draw large numbers of occupational health and safety professionals - around 1000 delegates are expected to hear more than 100 Australian and international speakers address 12 special-interest streams over three days.

Among the topical themes is Emergency Services (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Pandemic and Beyond), which will be the focus of opening breakfast speaker, Emergency Services Commissioner, Bruce Esplin.

In advance of his speech, the commissioner said it was time the wider community became more proactive about facing its threats.

"In recent decades, emergency services have been so capable in handling emergencies that a false impression that emergency management is the concern of the professionals may have been created," Mr Esplin said.

In the wake of terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina, Rutgers University's Dr Lee Clarke will call for a fresh approach to disaster management, calling for greater public involvement and better communication.

Albeit in different circumstances, day-one keynote speaker, WorkSafe Executive director John Merritt will also call for greater co-operation between workplace safety professionals, workers and employers.

Reflecting on the new Occupational Health and Safety Act, which includes a duty to consult, Mr Merritt will report on its roll-out and how the regulator has responded to the Maxwell Report with concrete steps towards greater accountability and transparency.

In fact the new legislation has prompted an entire stream on consultation.

Principal sponsor WorkSafe Victoria will be prominent among the speakers and Mr Merritt is a key participant in another stream taking a broader look at OHS laws.

Called The Law in Practice - Perspectives and Answers, the stream will include what promises to be a lively discussion on the expectations of regulators, employers and unions.

The OHS profession itself will also face challenges to the behaviour-based approach to safety, with USA-based speaker Larry Hansen, of L2H Speaking of Safety, leading the charge.

Previewing his address, Mr Hansen said professionals needed to "let go of the past" and embrace new safety paradigms.

"I am not suggesting traditional strategies be abandoned (they are the foundations), but rather that business managers and safety professionals recognize that 'unsafe acts' are not the 'core causes' of accidents, they are only the triggers," he said.

"Safety excellence is not about 'changing' employee behaviours.

"Safety excellence is all about changing the business process".

Mr Hansen's critique is bound to stir debate in the Culture and Behaviour Based Safety stream.

Other industry streams throughout the conference include Contemporary Occurrence Investigation; Safety in Schools; Work Permits in High Risk Industries; Risk Management; Role of the OHS Professional; Safety in the Offshore Petroleum Industry; Wellness in the Workplace; and Workplace Health and Safety for Managers.

The Safety In Action Conference will be held from Tuesday 16 to Thursday 18 May 2006 at the Melbourne Convention Centre, while its partner trade show runs concurrently at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre.

For more information or to register, visit the organisers' website.