2019 Conference Program

WELCOME & OPENING:
Bernie Doyle — Chairman and President, NSCA Foundation

INTERNATIONAL KEYNOTE: Approaching Zero Harm through Enhancement, Collaboration and Influence
Prof. Vincent Ho — President, Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH, UK) & Head of Corporate Safety, MTR (Hong Kong)

This presentation addresses the aspiration of the ‘Zero Harm’ approach and the systems and processes organisations need to take on the journey in reducing health and safety accidents. During the session Vincent will discuss the costs of accidents to businesses and how ‘Zero Harm’ can benefit them, highlight helpful tips for management to achieve this level of health and safety and show examples of how the ‘Zero Harm’ approach has been put into practice with impactful results.

KEYNOTE: No More ‘Biffs, Bumps and Brawlers’: Health & Safety in the Current AFL Competition
Patrick Clifton — Head of Health, Safety & Laws, Australian Football League

What does health and safety mean in the context of the modern AFL competition? Where has the AFL been in this space and where is it going? This presentation will address these questions and show the issues faced by the AFL are comparable to those in other industries. It will highlight the connections between the Laws of the Game, judicial framework, injury tracking & prevention programs and community translation.

11.00am-11.30am
Human Factors in the Introduction of Automated Systems in Safety-Critical Industries: A Guidance Example in the Air Traffic Control Industry
Dr Damien Armenis — Director & Principal, Cortexia

Safety-critical industries have been beset with a number of issues associated with the introduction of automated systems, most of which relate to human performance and error. Whether it’s the design of a new control room, the introduction of fatigue-related rostering technology or advanced alerting / alarming systems; the application of human factors requirements can minimise human error, optimise human performance and reduce overall project costs.

The author presents a case-study on the creation of a guidance document for a leading Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP) providing air traffic control services in the Asia Pacific region. The document is designed for human factors practitioners and project managers in the effective and safe implementation of automated systems. Key guiding principles, example requirements and lessons learnt are provided that apply to the full spectrum of safety-critical and high-risk industries.

Being the first such example of a comprehensive automation design and implementation guidance within these industries (to the author’s knowledge), the work represents both a novel and beneficial approach for practitioners and project staff alike.

11.00am-11.30am
Using Personal Attenuation Ratings to select hearing protection devices
Mark Reggers — Occupational Hygienist, 3M Australia

Hearing Protection Devices (HPD) are frequently used on the job and off the job to protect the wearer from hazardous and potentially hazardous noise levels. A key part of selecting the appropriate HPD is the assessment of the level of attenuation it is expected to provide the wearer compared to the workers noise exposure. The attenuation an HPD is expected to provide is based on the Australian New Zealand Standard 1270 Class and the SLC80 rating. But does this mean all workers will achieve this level of attenuation on the job? This presentation will cover the current methodology of HPD ratings, it’s limitations, selection factors for HPDs, determining personal attenuation ratings (PAR) and how to use PAR in the workplace.

11.30am-12.00noon
Evolving role of safety leaders
Dom O’Brien — Principal Consultant, Sentis

In an age of highly competitive and often volatile markets, the role of safety leader is constantly evolving. The push to achieve more with less, while maintaining a social and ethical license to operate, places an increased expectation on leaders to get the most from their people in a safe and sustainable way. Throw in the added complexity of generational differences, an aging workforce, the need for total worker health, changing work environments and an organisation’s cultural maturity, and it becomes clear that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to leading for safety.

Safety leadership isn’t just about you as a leader, but also the person you are leading, their skills and willingness to engage, and the situation they find themselves in. So, how do leaders not only embrace, but also set themselves up for success in a landscape that is constantly changing?

In this interactive and engaging session, participants will:

• Understand the multiple roles expected of today’s safety leader
• Explore how to adapt leadership strategies to different levels of safety culture maturity
• Identify different safety leadership strategies for different individual employee variables in the workplace, including managing expectations both up and down the line

11.30am – 12.00noon
Giving Health a Voice (Part 1 – Diagnostics)
Chris Ftinogiannis — Accredited Exercise Physiologist, AEP Health Group

Traditionally health and safety program has a big S , but the H falls short. Within organisations there is a need to focus on the health and bring it to equality with Safety in the pursuit of protecting people at work. Employee Health is a rather massive and complex subject, and is very topical especially considering the variety of health topics Included in health is mental health and this is also in peoples line of sight due to the recent code of practice on mental health.

The problem many leaders and safety professionals face is what to do?. How do leaders effectively diagnose the workplace, so that they can look after their employees, understanding where issues lie, and follow up with implementing meaningful solutions.

In this session we will introduce characteristics to look for during a health assessment, (physical; cardiovascular; psychological and workplace health). We will then provide guidance on how to diagnosis the overall Health of employees. To demonstrate this, session participants will be introduced to the wellness assistant toolkit through hands on participation. We will simulate a study on an organisation, whereby each individual in the session will be requested to participate as if they were part of an organisation using their mobile phones The results of individual group assessments will be then bundled together to create a snapshot of de-identified data which will give insight into the physical, psychological and group factors of the participants in the workshop.

The data from ” giving health a voice” part 1 will be analysed overnight and shared in a separate session (Part 2) the following day, where will look at the results of the group, and discuss potential solutioning to address some of the issues identified.

12.00noon-12.30pm
Safety For Tomorrow – Implementing Safety Standards in a Multi-Generational Workforce
Dr Simone Ryan — Consultant Occupational Physician, mlcoa

As the average life expectancy in Australia continues to increase, people are working later in life, and as a result the age of our workforce is rising. The challenge this creates for Employers, is maintaining productivity whilst keeping employees safe, without the risk of injury or aggravation of age-related conditions. Furthermore, the challenge of implementing healthy initiatives relevant to a multigenerational workforce presents as an ongoing concern. Dr Ryan will discuss the biology, physiology & psychology of ageing whilst also exploring ideas of designing an age friendly workplace. She will discuss how to develop and build action plans to assist in retaining the “ageing” workforce along with their expertise, whilst at the same time implementing strategies to encourage younger employees to adhere to safe work practices early on in their career. Dr Ryan will assist the audience in understanding better ways to manage the work environment, the individual, and their work/life balance by applying a case study approach to the presentation.

12.00noon-12.30pm
A Crash Course in Artificial Intelligence in Safety with a Case Study for Rapid Asbestos Abatement
Jordan Gruber — CEO, Frontier Microscopy & South Australian Young Achiever of the Year 2018

Artificial Intelligence is the new favourite buzzword but what is it and how does it apply to safety? In this presentation a Robotics Engineer gives a crash course in AI and robotics, techniques and capabilities, and help you connect the dots to apply AI to your work. We’ll discuss topics such as self driving vehicles, video analytics for automated incident prevention and PPE compliance, and IoT for real-time equipment monitoring. Lastly Jordan will discuss a case study on Marvin, an affordable and portable laboratory in a box that allows for rapid-onsite air sample analysis to accelerate asbestos abatement. We look forward to seeing you there!

1.30pm-2.00pm
The next generation of safety enforcement
Jackson Inglis — Partner, Sparke Helmore Lawyers

There have been ongoing significant changes in the safety environment as Regulators test the boundaries of the penalties available to them—the first imprisonment for a breach of the Victorian OHS Act took place in January. This was followed by another jail sentence in Queensland soon after—with the Court of Appeal quashing the conviction less than three months later upon appeal.

An increase in regulator activity regarding investigations and prosecutions across Australia has seen a rise in individual prosecutions, and the highest enforceable undertaking entered into. Fines are being issued in record highs, and industrial manslaughter continues to dominate the headlines nationally.

Jackson Inglis, Partner, Sparke Helmore Lawyers, will discuss key developments in the next generation of safety enforcement, and what these changes could mean for your organisation.

1.30pm-2.00pm
Go Home Better with ISO 45001
Anthony Symeoy — Management System Auditor, SAI Global Assurance

Organisations are increasingly recognising the need for establishing, implementing and maintaining a process(es) for hazard identification that is ongoing and proactive, including wellness and wellbeing programs to improve employee engagement and commitment, meet legal obligations and mitigate reputational risk. The new international management system Standard for OHS, IS0 45001, includes reference to the integration of social factors (including workload, work hours, victimization, harassment and bullying) into your management system.

This reflects societal acknowledgement that health encompasses more than the physical, and can be just as devastating to individuals, organisations and organisational success.

So, is your management system for OHS configured in a way that can support your workers to Go Home Better?

2.00pm-2.30pm
Safety as a Service: a 12 month performance review
Kersty Christensen — Head of Workplace Health and Safety, Brisbane Airport Corporation

2.00pm-2.30pm
Enhancing Safe Work at Heights near radio sites
Tony Paul — RF Safety Program Manager, Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA)

A central focus of the AMTA RF Safety Program is the promotion of AMTA developed resources that can enhance safe work at heights near radio base stations and other EME sources. Mobile Apps are available to assist workers with information including, providers of EME Awareness training, an EME safe work checklist, videos and useful resources. Workers can also identify radio sites near their area of work and identify who to contact for access to Site Safety information.

2.30pm-3.00pm
Safety Properly and the importance of ISO 45001
Andy Lewis — Director & Principal Consultant, WHS Australia

Early in 2018 something happened. For most of the global safety community the long wait was finally over. March 2018 saw the last bastion of resistance for a Global OHS standard crumble, ISO 45001 arrived!

Lewis takes us on journey through the history of OHS standards and the importance of having a set of global principals that have led us to the present day. Navigating around the new standard and highlights some of the key reason why as a nation we are lagging behind and what we can do to bridge the gap.

As we look at the statistics produced by the ILO (International Labour Organisation) in 2018 and the fact that over 2.7 million workers die each year through work related activities or disease and compare these against our performance in Europe and touches on the “Safety Ashes” as a comparison.

Taking an alternative look at some of the more recent trends in safety culture, Lewis points out some of the issues he has with Sidney Dekker’s Safety Differently. “It’s always fascinated me how some people just automatically buy into an idea that say Dekker, Reason and Hopkins come up with, yet when questioned as to how this is either implementable or sustainable, they all seem to revert back to the “Generative” concepts of safety which are a Trust and Accountability principal rather than answer then question itself.”

Lewis adds “For the record, I honestly believe that Dekker, Reason and Hopkins have done so much for safety over the last thirty or so years, we just need to go back to basics right now in my opinion, moving away from the ‘giving people a cuddle’ concept every time someone break the rules”.

Lewis highlights some of the key differences between the AS/NZ 4801 (the regional standard) vs ISO 45001 (the new Global benchmark) and offers up his suggestions for achieving certification to 45001 and the key to having a certification partner rather than a certifier.

“The key to certification is embracing the gaps that are identified, rather than seeing them as tarnished black marks on an organisational certification record, these should be seen as opportunities that can lead to financial reward for a business if the desire and leadership is there.” Lewis says. “What we need to do is move away from the environment that NASA displayed in the early 80’s that ultimately lead to the loss of Challenger.”

2.30pm-3.00pm
The Asbestos Identification and Rating System: a tool for prioritised asbestos removal
Simone Stevenson — Executive Director, Victorian Asbestos Eradication Agency

Despite predictions that the number of people dying from asbestos related diseases would decline after the mining and use of asbestos was banned, it hasn’t. Over a decade since it was banned we still have a significant legacy of asbestos in our built environment. This includes buildings owned by government.

Asbestos containing materials (ACMs) in government owned buildings are anywhere between 30 years and 100 years old. The majority of those ACMs are about 60 years old. These ACMs are near or at the end of their product life and subject to damage, deterioration and weathering.

The Victorian Asbestos Eradication Agency was created to:

• • develop a consolidated register of the condition and location of asbestos in Victorian government owned buildings; and
  • develop a schedule for the prioritised removal of identified asbestos.

The VAEA worked on creating the register and Schedule from 2017 to 2018. The Schedule and consolidated register are maintained in a purpose built database, the Asbestos Identification and Rating System (AIR System).

The AIR System is a secure, centralised, live database of identified asbestos in government owned buildings. It is used to update the location and condition of ACMs, record removals, and reassess risk, where there is any change in friability, condition, disturbance potential or building use.

This is the first time a centralised register of this scale has been has been used to both plan for asbestos removal and improve health and safety outcomes by providing more accessible, accurate information on a building’s asbestos legacy.

GUEST OF HONOUR: Vision Zero or Zero Vision? A mindset shift
Er. Siong Hin Ho — Senior Director (International WSH), Ministry of Manpower (Singapore)

Singapore has made significant progress in our workplace safety and health (WSH) outcomes. Our workplace fatal injury rate declined by more than 75% over the past 14 years: from 4.9 per 100,000 workers in 2004 to 1.2 per 100,000 workers in 2018 – the lowest level recorded in history. This was the result of concerted tripartite efforts to strengthen WSH regulations, develop capabilities, raise awareness and deepen industry ownership of WSH, which were guided by the national WSH strategies developed in 2005 and 2008.

In his presentation, Er. Ho Siong Hin will be sharing on the strategies Singapore adopted over the years to achieve the improvements, including our Vision Zero Journey. This will include the communication strategy to convey what is Vision Zero versus Zero Vision bringing about a mindset shift. He will also touch on the challenges that Singapore is currently facing and how Singapore plans to address these challenges via our latest ten-year roadmap, the WSH 2028 National WSH Strategies.

Reality of a Safety Tragedy
Patrizia Cassaniti — Touched by Christopher

After the tragic loss of her son, Christopher, to a fatal scaffolding accident in April, Patrizia Cassaniti has been on a mission to make safety accountable and reign in a law that will ensure employers are securing the safety of their workers and have the ability to speak up with confidence, without being victimised. #christopherslaw has been making the rounds on the media and Patrizia is sharing her story about the Reality of a Safety Tragedy.

She has also started a foundation called Touched by Christopher which will help families financially within the week of the incident to allow the grieving process to not be interrupted by the daunting thoughts of needing to pay bills.

#ChristophersLaw #TouchedByChristopher

International Keynote: Vision Zero Strategy and 7 Golden Rules for a Sustainable Safety Culture of Prevention
Dr. Dheera Phong-anant — Manager – OSH Development and International Relations Center, SHAWPAT (Thailand)

Vision Zero Strategy and 7 Golden Rules were recently developed by the International Section of the ISSA on Prevention in the Mining Industry. ISSA has announced a Global Campaign based on this strategy in order to develop worldwide a sustainable safety culture of prevention. So far, over 4000 organizations around the world have already adopted Vision Zero as one of their OSH strategies. In Thailand, SHAWPAT has been developing the Vision Zero strategy for all levels of Thai enterprises from large to small. The concept of Vision Zero and the 7 Golden rules will be explained and a story of experiences and lessons learnt on developing Thailand Vision Zero will be openly shared and discussed.

Day 1 Closing Remarks
Bernie Doyle — Chairman and President, NSCA Foundation

WELCOME & OPENING:
Bernie Doyle — Chairman and President, NSCA Foundation

International Keynote: Changing Employees’ Attitude in Safety – Beyond Educate-Nag-Enforce
Boon Chew Soon — Principal Consultant, Culture Lab (Singapore)

People are often the weakest link in safety. To overcome the problem of employees not following rules, we tend to educate and nag at them; follow by consequence management. This approach is useful only in certain situations. What you likely get are temporary compliance or even passive aggressiveness. To effectively change attitude, there have to be less pushing and more pulling. You cannot directly change people, but you can create conditions that make it easier and appealing for people to change. This talk will cover the three factors that drive unsafe behaviours and share two practical techniques to enable change.

CHOICES
James Wood — Director & Safety Speaker, CNBSafe Safety Speakers

James Wood offers workplaces something different. He has no tertiary qualifications in safety, yet he delivers powerful safety messages.

A diesel mechanic by trade, James went to work one day and came home 9 months later. He had a workplace incident resulting in a permanent spinal cord injury. James admits that the incident was caused by the CHOICES he made.

During his time in hospital and rehabilitation he met others who had suffered permanent injuries and would spend time listening to their stories and telling people what happened to him.

Some time after his accident he was asked to share his story at a workplace “Safety Day” and he has been doing it ever since. James believes that if he had seen and heard first hand the results of getting hurt at work he would have put more effort into staying safe.

Join James as he shares his story and talks about the power of showing employees the real impact of getting hurt at work!

11.00am-11.30am
How New Thinking is Reducing Serious Injuries and Fatalities
Warren Smith — Executive Consultant, DEKRA Insight Australia

All senior executives want to prevent SIF’s from occurring in their organisations. And they tend to believe reflexively that if the number of smaller injuries is declining, so must the number of fatal and serious injuries. In fact, many organisations find themselves today with rates of fatal and serious injuries that are level or even rising while the rate of smaller injuries declines.

Why is this happening? What does it mean? Shouldn’t all injuries decline at approximately the same rate if the right things are being done to improve safety?

This presentation will provide data analytics that explode traditional thinking about the Heinrich Pyramid. It will show how new thinking about the causes of SIF’s can spur ideas and interventions that can make a significant safety difference in your organisation.

Learning Objectives:

• • • • Understand the flaws in traditional thinking about how to reduce injuries;
      • Learn what years of studies show about the different causes of SIF’s and less serious injuries;
      • Recognise how to seek the precursors of SIF’s in your organisation – what to look for;
      • Gain new insights into how to improve your organisation’s safety record.

11.00am-11.30am
Influence of Safety in the Wiring Rules
Gary Busbridge — Standardisation Manager, Schneider Electric & Chairman, EL001 Wiring Rules standards committee

The Wiring Rules appear to most users as a series of rules to be followed so that an electrical installation is compliant. Yes, this is one of the goals, but safety is the paramount outcome of the standardised Wiring Rules.

Safety concerns are the driver of many of the amendments or additions that occur within the development of the Wiring Rules. The 2018 revision constituted a unique safety drive for implementation of RCDs, as an example. Many other parts of the revision were based around technological change and installation technique but at the forefront is the application of safety for the installer, the installation and the end-user.

Without SAFETY as the number one focus, the Wiring Rules would be lacking the necessary support for the future of the electrical industry!

11.30am-12.00noon
Topic TBA
Julie Nielsen — Executive Director Health and Safety, WorkSafe Victoria

11.30am-12.00noon
Planning for emergencies: industrial crisis management
Johnny Fisher — Emergency Management professional, Fire & Safety Australia

With an increase in large-scale industrial emergencies both within Australia and globally, organisations are facing heightened pressure to develop or update their emergency management plans to prevent and manage crisis situations. Johnny will outline the differences between emergency response and management, explore recent case studies and suggest methods and considerations for developing a whole-of-organisation crisis plan that can be contextualised to meet different industrial environments.

12.00noon-12.30pm
Answering the call: key lessons from police and emergency services and the importance of mentally healthy workplaces
TBA — Beyond Blue

Answering the call is the first Australian national survey of the mental health and wellbeing of personnel in the police and emergency services. In total, 21,014 police and emergency services volunteers and current and former employees across a range of roles, ranks and locations participated in the survey.

The results reveal a workforce that is deeply impacted, both by the nature of the work that they do, and the environments in which they work.

Importantly, the survey identified a number of themes relevant to other workplaces. This includes the importance of workplace practices, significance of gossip, and importance of teams.

This talk looks into the high level findings of the landmark study, as well as key learnings for all of us to take back to our workplaces.

12.00noon-12.30pm
Developing Risk Based Management Plans for Occupational Hygiene Respirable Silica
Simon Ercole — National Practice Lead – Health & Safety, Greencap

With the rise in numbers of workers diagnosed with silicosis in Australia and internationally, there is a growing importance for the development of risk-based occupational hygiene management plans. These documented management plans provide a clear process to identify, assess and control worker exposure and reduce personal exposures to acceptable levels.

The plans document the exposure profile for a project or organisation, the accountabilities and responsibilities, and the management processes in place. These plans should provide a clear, documented process to manage risk and thereby reduce silica diseases.

Simon Ercole has been developing RCS plans in across a range of industries. In his talk, he will draw upon his practical experience on how to develop a robust, practical and achievable risk-based management plan, and outline common pitfalls and aspects to be aware of in both developing the plans; from defining the scope, analysing available data and providing clear accountabilities.

1.30pm-2.00pm
Safety Training Approach’s – Online Vs Conventional: The good, bad, and ugly
Dr. Marilyn Hubner — Director, BuildUp Research

As access to high speed internet has become global, and the development of AI, Virtual reality, and interactive game-based courses has increased, many organsiations and safety professional or practitioners have or are, moving toward online safety training. However many question online safety training as a valid alternative to the more traditional face-to-face training due to perceptions of it (online training) just being a cheaper, simpler, compliance focused option.

This presentation will highlight published research, identify successful case studies, and discuss the range of good, bad and ugly perceptions around both online and conventional face-to-face safety training.

1.30pm-2.00pm
Presentation TBC

2.00pm-2.30pm
Vibrant sites – a fresh approach to integrating safety and wellbeing into business processes
Dr. Angelica Vecchio-Sadus — HSE Manager Victoria/Tasmania, CSIRO

HSE has traditionally had a stereotypic view of being compliance-driven. More and more we hear about changing behaviour to promote positive approaches to working safely. What if we could identify an alternative way of using language and activities to create a whole-of-workplace approach where HSE is seamlessly integrated with business operation? We call this a ‘vibrant site’. Vibrant sites is a framework that integrates HSE with diversity, talent, high performance and financial sustainability. Integrating safety culture into the day-to-day is a complex change initiative, transforming attitudes and behaviour. We will explore how a new rollout is driving uptake and engagement.

2.00pm-2.30pm
Giving Health a Voice (Part 2 – Solutioning)
Craig Docherty — CEO/Founder, Fusion Safety Management

Overnight we will have analyses the data from the group in session 1, looking for trends that are both positive and some that the simulated organisation may want to consider improving. During Giving Health a Voice – Part 2, we will will take you through the summary report generated from the data, and discuss strategies for areas we may need to focus moving forward to improve the performance.

It is anticipated that from attending both Part 1 and Part 2 – solutioning, participants will have a greater understanding on how to implement a program to not only diagnose company wide health, but how to look for trends and select and roll out solutions to assist the organisation in improving its overall heath.

Carpe Diem
David Meadows — Actor, Centre Stage Scripts
Chris Pidd — Actor, Centre Stage Scripts
Carpe Diem is a contemporary portrayal of every day Australian males dealing with issues of health, grief, loss and depression. It stresses the importance of professional care in times of crises, and highlights the importance of mate ship and looking out for each other. With the rising incidence of depression and suicide amongst Australian males, a project of this nature is relevant; encouraging open and honest conversation and increased awareness. Carpe Diem is a didactic comedy designed for work place and community audiences; delivering the mental health messages in a way that is entertaining, immediate and highly relevant.

Following the play, there will be a Q&A with the actors discussing mental health

“Sound mental health is essential to our daily lives; and the ability to function and work is paramount to the health and wellbeing of work places, families and communities. Carpe Diem is an entertaining look at how friendship and proper care give a man the strength to cope and the tools to carry on… No man is an island.”

Closing Remarks from the Chair
Bernie Doyle — Chairman and President, NSCA Foundation