Afleveringen
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Season 05 Episode 09: A prism party and colour cascade
WARNING: This episode presents topics on workplace fatalities and suicide - Listener discretion is advised.
Sara announces the publication of a new book of which she is a co-editor, “Healthcare Insights: The voice of the consumer, the practitioner, and the work design strategist.” “The intent,” she explains, “is to empathise and to understand situations from many points of view. It’s like holding a crystal to the sky, and seeing different colours refract when you spin it around,” says Sara. Trace concurs, “Storytelling and narratives are prisms to view a different world.” Tracie elaborates on his contribution to a chapter in another book in the Workplace Insights series on Good Work Design, using empathy maps to articulate victim impact statement. “That’s golden,” Sara exclaims, “That’s from working with me! I love that a past state prosecutor is using empathy maps in storytelling.” Trajce recalls, “We used empathy maps in our safety conference presentation on distributed work emerging from the pandemic”. Alan retorts, “I remember that conference. I think there was some trivialisation of alcohol at that event!”
Alan and Trajce reflect on their careers in work health and safety law, and on some critical cases. “The downside of workplace criminal law,” Alan deducts, “is that everyone suffers.” Trajce adds, “This is unintentional crime.” Sara shares a subscriber’s, Craig McDonald’s, concerns about causational chains of responsibility, especially when governments constrain capital expenditure in transport infrastructure. Conversely, the podcast crew debate the notion of spurious injury claims and the weaponisation of alleged psychosocial harm.
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Season 05 Episode 08: Smooth Criminal: The sociology of industrial crime
WARNING: This episode discusses fatalities in the workplace. Listener discretion is advised.
In this episode, Alan broaches the topic of industrial manslaughter by describing a case involving a forklift operation fatal incident in a stonemasonry company in New South Wales. This prompts Trajce to reflect on a case where a prosecuted employer ritualistically honoured the anniversary of the death of their worker by paying for an ode of remembrance in the bereavement section of the local newspaper to acknowledge how much the apprentice was missed.
“This shows how these events take a huge emotional toll on all parties involved in a fatal incident,” explain Trajce, “These are not crimes rationalising a standard criminological lens. These are crimes involving unintentional harm. It fascinates me because of the sociology of crime – the industrial criminal who commits crimes unintentionally.
“These deterrents, the fees, no matter the cost, will never cure the hurt. In the court of public opinion, it will never be enough,” Alan empathises.
Sara dreams of a world that balances the punishment with reward to motivate people to exhibit desired social behaviours. "It's basic neuroscience," she says.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Season 05 Episode 07: Trajce raises the issue of the Barnaby Bother. It was a Boisterous Barnaby Bumble… Alan explains the alcohol-infused ‘Barnaby bumble’: It made national news, all around Australia, and it was highly embarrassing to anyone involved. Trajce reminds the crew that Zahi Steggall, Member of Parliament New South Wales, SW MP, has implored, “We must do something about alcohol use in parliament.”
We cannot trivialise this. Yet, alcohol consumption is culturally indoctrinated in Australia. Trajce announces his publication on trivialisation of risk in the workplace. Alcohol-related activity is one of the 6 typologies found in Reality TV, a reflection on daily life. “It’s trivialisation dissonance,” he says, “The media industry code of practice that advocated for protections from occupational psychosocial exposures during production has been removed at the same time that this material arose in general workplace guidance materials,” “It's not good for popular culture TV viewing without it,” says Alan.
For the subscribers, look out for Trajce’s ‘booky-book’, as Sara labels it, on the trivialisation of risk and hazard exposures in the workplace.
“It’s the little things that matter,” Trajce notes.
For more on alcohol consumption at work, listen to Season 05 Episode 04: Office Spirits: Culture & Controversy and Season 05 Episode 01: Bubbles of Trouble.
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WhyWork Podcast subscriber Anna Linning asks, “How are different organisations managing the phenomena of digital and instant communication modes in their business - Teams, social media, intranets, and the like?” “Doctor, doctor, give me a call,” Alan chimes, reflecting on Anna’s work in an Australian occupational medical practice.
The team debate the Fair Work Amendment Bill 2023 on the right to disconnect because of the issue raised by Anna: the communication impact on mental and emotional load. “I’m finding major problems with this amendment,” scoffs Sara, “Have we returned to that Caucasian, male, privileged work convention?” Alan replies, “… this is one-way legislation.” Trajce adds, “… you must go straight to the source. Don’t go to Dr. Google,” he advises, “The devil is in the details, it says ‘must’,” but it says “unless the reason is for an emergency, OR a genuine welfare matter, OR compensated. The ‘etcetera’ is important.” “Disconnect is analogous to Stop. It’s a stop sign,” Trajce announces, “It’s vexed, Anna, it is vexed. It begs answers on these questions:
· What does contact mean?
· Is the allowance reasonable?
· What constitutes an emergency?
Trajce, Alan, and Sara concur on one aspect, “For a little amendment, we’re going to get a lot of traction out of this…” they chime.
For more on the ‘Right to Disconnect,’ listen to Season 05 Episode 03: Grab the Pilates socks – It’s our right to disconnect. For more on the Emoji and GIF hieroglyphics in workplace communication, listen to Season 04 Episode 01: The GIF gal and the Emoji man.
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WARNING: This episode references suicide and sexual matters.
The WhyWork crew debate the contest of being forthright in social relations. Trajce reveals a case of a young, drunken lawyer determined to approach a colleague on the dancefloor at a work party. The courts deemed his behaviour to be highly inappropriate and sexualised. This sounds like Season 01 and Episode 01, ‘Bubbles of Trouble.’ “It’s rather sudsy, ” Alan reflects. “It’s the ‘A’ word,” says Trajce, “the Aaa-lcohol that subjects a young person to a new state of vulnerability. This is a common theme.” “Ten Bundies and Coke might erode a few boundaries,” he rationalises, and he exclaims, “There are consequences of shimmying on the dance floor!” “Do we need a specific memo on this? Really? A team of lawyers reverted to shimmying as their defense strategy?” begs Sara.
“When you think of discomfort, you think of WhyWork!” badgers Trajce to the laughter of Alan and Sara. “Go the edge,” urges Sara. “Go the edge! I love taking Trajce to the point of when he blushes to our banter,” she teases. Alan urges management teams to learn from the real-world scenarios of work. “Sex and sexual urges are a ‘thing’ when working with people. Organisations must consider this in their risk assessments,” Sara advises. Trajce recalls a matter in school education involving a confronting mix of Midori and marijuana.
Sara sends a shout out to The University of Queensland’s Professor Hugh Possingham. She gives her thanks for his teachings on sustainability, transparent decision making, ecosystems, sociopolitical forces influencing ethics, and multiple points of view.
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Sara laments the damage to her little toe that got no roast beef, “… and it was on my birthday!” she punctuates the story. No, she hadn't been drinking...
The team debate the idea of drinking at work, particularly when it is distributed. Sara describes a case when a teacher concluded his remote video call with his employer by drinking from a cask of wine. When disputed, the parties agreed on the facts that this violated workplace agreements and code of conduct.
Alan slurps his lemon soda in the background as Sara and Trajce debate the ideas and optics on drinking at work when work occurs anywhere and cultural appreciations sway the judgement on these matters. “Easy fix - turn the camera off,” says Alan, the defense lawyer.
Sara announces, “Strong is the new skinny,” when reflecting on The Tradies underwear ad with the Honey Badger Cummins and Winter Olympian Danielle Scott and Women’s Sevens Rugby star Charlotte Caslick. Alan explains the ad, "They are in their underwear, boogying on film, hair blown by a leaf blower." Trajce challenges the idea on a participatory approach to run focus groups in the workplace to determine team member comfort or reactions to new policies, procedures, and material that is ‘on the edge.’
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“These lawyer boys are like Teflon,” Sara labels, “You see? There you go again– deflection! That is deflection number 02 this morning,” she accuses Alan.
After discussing Alan’s adventures, soaring above the lush, grassy, green, open paddocks of Tasmania and Trajce’s newfound love of the Reformer and his Pilates socks, the team venture into workplace discourse.
Trajce asks, “If I ask you about your right to disconnect, what does it mean to you?” Alan, Trajce, and Sara debate the amendments to the Fair Work Legislation 2009 on the right to disconnect. The team focus their discussions on the service professions, like teaching, policing, and healthcare workers.
“The law exists because the system is failing. The court is a last resort,” says TC, “We must need this prompt, this mandate to design work better since we, as a society, are not resolving this.” “You know the Christian biblical story described in the Old Testament about how God gave His people Ten Commandments, yet others were thrown away? My verdict: throw this one away.” Sara ponders ideas on alternative design strategies and cultural expectations of work. She recalls the ‘roving classroom’ design strategy modelled in the United States. She is befuddled on why Western Society did not better capitalise on the rich opportunities afforded by the pandemic upheavals to evolve and re-design quality education combined with good work models.
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Season 05 Episode 02: More than just paper airplanes: The projectiles impacting our teachers
"I have injury statistics on teachers," inivites Sara, "Tell me how is it that they are struck by flying objects? Hit by projectiles!" That question leads to confessions by the boys as they recall their school days. Sara remembers her Italian language teacher who used to throw chalk at students. "It's the reverse now!" exclaims Trajce.
Sara challenges the team to consider the enduring impact of good design, starting with the environment for a lasting effect on those using the space; positively, if well designed. Alan connects with this idea. Trajce links the teaching woes to past discussions on the stressors faced by teachers, explored in in S02 E13: An upstanding citizen with salmon in his pocket. The team can’t help but travel south in their conversation, recalling the story of a teacher caught on film, after hours, in the most inconvenient way.
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Season 05 Episode 01: Citizen Control.
"Consultation - meh! Peh!" complains Sara, with disdain. "There is a lot of corporate hazing and gaslighting," reflects Trajce. This episode was prompted by the presentation by Dr Elise Crawford of Central Queensland University. Elise spoke on her reesarch of worker particpation in their work design during the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of Australia Queensland seminar last year. Sara elaborates on the tiered scales of organisational citizenship which can fall into the categories of 'non participation,' 'tokenism,' and 'degrees of citizen power.' Alarmingly, 'consultation,' falls into the category of 'tokenism.' Alan reminds us that this is a workplace obligation in the work health and safety legislation ."It's a sham!" exclaims Trajce. He trails, "This sounds like another 'C-word' in our lexicon of work vocabulary..."
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WhyWork Season 05 Ready for Take Off, Coming Soon
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There's more: The English legal profession, "Trajce, you're always on top of this," says Alan. Consultation, Teachers. Lawyers. All of it is on the table. We're back. Educate your mind because the system will keep you blind.
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Honey, we're home. Season 05 is coming to you soon. Kitchen benches and silicosis. It's a thing. Work design versus interior design. Home renovations and engineered stone. Yah, let's do this. "Testing, testing, testing, hi there." "It's an intro, guys". Educate your mind.
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Honey, we're home... Season 05. Educate your mind because the system can be blind. Create a new path. We're back. Teachers. signage, personal protective equipment, controversy, systematic design, and more giggles. Let's just call it like it is. Caught on film.
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Season 04 Episode 13: Alan, Trajce, and Sara discuss the casualised work phenomenon introduced in a rampant way during the pandemic, causing the management of distributed work and the advent of remote video call meetings.Trajce discloses one of his secret nicknames, The Count von Count from Sesame Street, which is met by Alan and Sara’s appreciative laughter who cannot 'unsee' Trajce as The Count.
Sara shares a junk food gem, passed to her by a past workmate and friend, Dr Brent Oldenburg, the chocolate M&M covered movie popcorn!
Alan discusses the confrontation, the unfriendly and alarming case of arrest, and the strength of force that can be shown by police during their arrests of crime suspects – “a dangerous scenario for all involved,” explains Alan. He tells a story of the arrest of a sole parent in front of her child after her failure to pay for petrol. “Haven’t we all done that or nearly done that?” asks Sara.
In this episode, a special visit is made by loyal subscriber, Carmen Mitchell, as she delivers her magic artwork charcoal and white pen drawings of the Stag, the Owl, and the Rascal (Otter), to celebrate the team’s spirit animals, discussed in Season 02 Episode 14: Spirit Animals.
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“Never smile at a crocodile,” chimes Alan. This episode speaks on working with critters; the first, a case of two soldiers attacked by a crocodile in Far North Queensland. Comcare charged the Australian Department of Defense for breaching federal work and safety laws for failing to maintain a safe system of work, training, and policy implementation. “You’ve obviously seen an alligator or two in your travels across America, Sara,” Trajce suggests. The boys start chest-thumping their machismo argument that the salty crocodile of Australia is bigger and tougher than the American alligator counterpart, “A nibbler,” admonishes Trajce, “I’d like to see them arm wrestle and see who rolls better.”
The team continue to debate on work, tourism, and the intersection of animals that bite. “What is just good lawyering versus rational judgments?” Sara demands answers. Alan returns to the case discussed in Season 02 and Episode 07: Men and Women 2: Nightstalker Fright Night and recent judgments, and Sara explains real-world creative that leverage human nature and accommodate commercial toileting habits.
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Season 04 Episode 11: The things we do for fun.
WARNING: This episode discusses fatalities
Alan reflects on the prosecutions and a pending coronial inquest on the fatalities of the six Tasmanian children (and three injured children) while playing in jumping castles during their school fair. “The judgement on the facts is pending,” Alan explained, “and there are no industrial manslaughter judgements in Tasmania.” The team grapples with the loss of innocent lives and the relaxed approaches to risk management when we embrace recreational fun versus work activities. “You are ready to have fun, you are expecting to have fun, and you are not expecting to die,” Trajce explicates, “crocodiles attack people, islands erupt, and jumping castles fly away.” The team reference the Queensland Amusement Devices Code of Practice 2023 .
Sara shifts the discussion on workplace protections to people, culture, and design by introducing the '9 Levels on Human Readiness' to adopt new technologies and to manage the business transformation. “These considerations provide rationale yet again on the need for human factors professionals to be embedded in organisations and champion work strategy and systems design.” Sara implores.
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Season 04 Episode 10: Prosecuting ‘nicely’
WARNING: Suicide is discussed in this episode.
Alan introduces a model of prosecution adopted by the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator that provides guidance to industry and focuses on the most important prosecutorial issues. Alan and Trajce dream of dismantling ideological boundaries so that business and industry can return to the fundamental questions on, “What is our purpose?" In this way, creative solutions can be found to solve age-old problems. Sara is excited by what she sees as the favourable view of design in this light and her influence on the way that the boys think. She reiterates her desire to advance three pillars in work design: workplace protections, people and culture, and design (For more on this, watch Sara's presentation at HFESA 2023)
“Hey mum, hey dad,” sidles Trajce, “are we becoming though leaders?” Sara exclaims, “I’m just an agitator, a rabble-rouser - I am never satisfied!” while Alan heartedly agrees with her proclamation. “If we raise thought-provoking material, and we generate strong reactions from among our listeners,” says Trajce, “we are the ‘agent provocateur’.”
Thank you to subscriber Craig McDonald for raising considerations in the Rail Industry. These concerns included queries about government control on capital expenditures. In these cases, Craig wondered with whom responsibility lies when considering safe design, design impact, and the causal chain of responsibility.
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CAUTION: This episode speaks on near miss harm of a child.
Season 04 Episode 09: This episode speaks about the first pillar of work design, workplace protections, and the sociopolitical influences of worker empowerment. Thank you to subscriber, David Denoux, who shared his story on construction work and safety concerns.
“If something goes wrong, terribly wrong, it will change your life,” warns Alan, “just say 'no' and walk away.” Sara reminds Alan and Trajce that sometimes a worker may not feel empowered or privileged to walk away or to speak up, hinting at the second pillar in work design: people and culture. Trajce empathises with the workers needing to put food on the table. The reflections mirror some of the concerns raised in Season 04 Episode 08: The archaic adage of deserving a good spanking.
Sara introduces a third pillar of work design, ‘design’, and speaks on good work design versus designing good work, and 'the accidental designer' versus 'the intentional designer.' The team pay tribute to the WhyWork Podcast’s principal sponsor, ViVA health at work, and the design movers and shakers that influence much of her team's work: Katre Bailey, graphic design of 45 Degrees Studio; Michael Grima, industrial design of qDesign; David Denoux, a user-experience and service designer; Tyde Rabbit, video production; and David Hall, the remarkable dance-party purveyor of fun, and Melbourne’s Guru Dudu Disko Duk Duk.
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Season 04 Episode 08: This episode covers two main topics. The first, thanks to our subscriber Andrew Nicholls, a design and technology teacher and researcher, who informed us of his advocacy for the provision of personal protective equipment to school technology and design staff. Alan reminds us of the case against a university because of levies charged to nursing students for their fit testing of respiratory protective equipment before they undertook their hospital placements. Trajce sites Section 273 of the Australian Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Person not to levy workers) arguing that a Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking ‘must not impose a levy or charge on a worker for anything done or provided." He also sites Section 19, arguing that a workplace must care for ‘others.’
Second, the argument for care makes Alan come unstuck (as much as Alan ever comes undone), and Trajce and Sara are aghast as Alan explains the case he found in the Royal Australian Navy court martial records. The case involved a 57-year-old male supervising Lieutenant Commander and a 25-year-old female Junior Officer. While mentoring the junior, the 'improvement coaching' involved an age-old punishment practice of spanking the junior. “Shut-up, stop-stop-stop!” Trajce and Sara protest. “This is a slippery slope,” Trajce reflects and concludes, “If this story gripped me, it would grip a nation.” This episode is a fascinating segue to Season 04 Episode 07: ‘Every Sunday I Eat A Pie’, Mate: The power intent of a hierarchy of controls.
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Season 04 Episode 07: This episode stemmed from conversations with Dylan Matthews of the BHP FutureFit Academy on the seemingly innocent and instructive applications of the Hierarchy of Controls (HOC) in safety management: elimination, substitution, isolation, engineering, administrative controls, and personal protective equipment (ESIEAP – ‘Every Sunday I Eat A Pie’). Trajce is fired up by this topic as he recalls the 17th Century philosophy of Thomas Hobbes on jurisprudence, governance, liberalism, and utilitarianism. “A hierarchy of control is not intended to be as rigid as it implies with an unyielding iron cage of the law constraining work strategy. ‘Hierarchy’ is more politically forceful than ‘design,’ and that can create alarm in the workplace. To punctuate this idea, Trajce transforms into the Wizard of Oz with his threats and warnings. Alan interjects, “Trajce, am I mistaken?” he asks, “Wasn’t the Wizard determined to be a fraud?”
Sara pontificates on what she views as three pillars of work design: workplace protections, people and culture, and design, and she is anguished by the lack of attention by organisations and industries on the design pillar. She argues that human factors mediates these pillars in work strategy and must be deeply embedded in operations, with human factors professionals empowered by executive-level, decision-making authority. She elaborates on the ‘enduring impact’ (EI) of good work design introduced in Season 04 Episode 05: To live is to be anxious, especially in the toxic workplace. (Note: The EMESRT Vehicle Interaction working groups have done remarkable work on determining their classification of the '9 Layers of Control Effectiveness', an inspiration for Sara's thought on the enduring impact of design interventions).
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