Safe Work Month 2023
Psychosocial hazards industry forum Thursday, 12 October 2023
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Acknowledgement of Country We respectfully acknowledge Aboriginal peoples as the Traditional Custodians of this land on which we deliver our services to the communities throughout Western Australia. We acknowledge their enduring connection to the lands, waterways and communities and pay our respects to Elders past and present.
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About the event As part of October’s Safe Work Month, WorkSafe welcomes you to the Psychosocial hazards industry forum. This forum is one of several events held within our overarching Safe Work Month theme for 2023, Our way forward: Prioritising healthy and safe workplaces. Find out more at dmirs.wa.gov.au/safeworkmonth
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Welcome
Hon Bill Johnston MLA Minister for Mines and Petroleum, Industrial Relations
Welcome to the second Safe Work Month event for 2023, the Psychosocial hazards industry forum. The health and safety of workers both physical and psychological is extremely important, and is a key priority for the State Government. Safe Work Month provides many opportunities to learn more about health and safety in workplaces. Today’s workplaces present a number of challenges to both the physical and mental health of workers, and much positive action is being taken across our State to address these challenges. This helps create stronger safety mindsets, behaviours and practices that support the prevention of harm. This forum brings together a range of industry experts to discuss psychosocial hazards and the mental health of WA workers. Please take what you learn today back to your workplaces and use it to help improve safety and health outcomes.
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Sally North Acting WorkSafe Commissioner
Welcome to the Psychosocial hazards industry forum, an important feature of 2023 Safe Work Month. The psychological safety of workers is every bit as important as their physical safety, and this was formalised in the Work Health and Safety Act 2020, enacted in March 2022. Today’s forum will feature a number of experts in the psychosocial field presenting the latest knowledge and issues in areas related to managing psychosocial risks, along with a panel discussion on supporting colleagues and bystanders. Thank you all for your participation in the forum, and I trust you will find it a valuable learning experience that will help improve health and safety outcomes in your workplaces.
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Program 8.00 am 9.00 am
Registration MC’s introduction
9.05 am 9.15 am
Welcome to Country Welcome address
9.20 am
Keynote session
10.20 am 11.00 am
11.30 am
12.00 pm 1.00 pm
Toughness in the workplace: Where are we now? Morning SafeTea Mental health and suicide in mining
How psychosocial regulations are being applied to gendered violence investigations, a mines inspector’s experience Lunch and networking Welcome to afternoon session
Tim McMillan TV broadcaster and conversation specialist Robyn Collard Christina Folley Director WorkSafe Mines Safety, Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) Dr Dean Laplonge Factive Consulting, Senior Gender-Based Violence Specialist Jordan Jackson Inspector of Mines, Mental Health and Wellbeing, WorkSafe Mines Safety, DMIRS Kath Jones Inspector of Mines, Mental Health and Wellbeing, WorkSafe Mines Safety, DMIRS
Tim McMillan
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1.05 pm
Managing risk of workplace psychosocial hazards: Ten practical steps
1.35 pm
Panel session Supporting colleagues and bystanders
2.20 pm 2.55 pm
3.25 pm
Dr Marcus Cattani Senior Lecturer and Post Graduate Course Coordinator OHS, Edith Cowan University Panel discussion facilitator: Tim McMillan Panellists: Julia Armitt Lorna MacGregor Damien McVeigh
Afternoon SafeTea Preventing workplace bullying and ill-treatment
Professor Tim Bentley Deputy-Director, Mental Awareness, Respect and Safety (MARS) Centre, Edith Cowan University The impact of trauma on Associate Professor Ben employee wellbeing in a first Farr-Wharton responder context Deputy-Director, MARS Centre, Edith Cowan University and Dr Aglae Hernandez Grande Employee Wellbeing Researcher and Lecturer in Management, Edith Cowan University and Dr Fleur Sharafizad Lecturer in Management, School of Business and Law, Edith Cowan University
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3.55 pm
Closing remarks
4.00 pm 4.05 pm
Forum concludes Tour of Optus Stadium
Sally North Acting WorkSafe Commissioner Optional
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Our speakers
Christina Folley Director WorkSafe Mines Safety, DMIRS
Christina Folley is the Director WorkSafe Mines Safety, and is appointed by the Minister for Mines and Petroleum as the Chief Inspector of Mines for Western Australia. Christina provides executive leadership, direction, and management to the WorkSafe Mines Safety Directorate. Christina has over 19 years of experience within the mining and exploration sector and has qualifications in health and safety, emergency medical care, business administration, and public sector management. She specialises in people management, workplace leadership, organisational values, legislation and policy, incident prevention, investigations, and cultural improvement.
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Keynote speaker Dr Dean Laplonge Factive Consulting, Senior Gender-Based Violence Specialist
For the past two decades, Dean has worked across the globe supporting the efforts of international development banks and private sector businesses to improve prevention of and responses to gender-based violence. He is widely recognised as an international expert in managing the risks of these behaviours in workplaces and in communities that are affected by business operations. He has been a leading voice in raising concerns about gendered behaviours in the extractive industries. In 2010, he facilitated a groundbreaking roadshow for the Department of Mines in Western Australia to explore how practices of masculinity affect safety on mine sites. Dean has also worked extensively in the humanitarian sector with various international agencies, including the United Nations, to research the prevalence of violence against women, girls and gender diverse persons; and to develop programming and training for gender-based violence practitioners. In 2022, Dean was awarded a visiting fellowship at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, to pursue research on responses to gender-based violence in the private sector. He holds a PhD in the field of gender (Australia) and a master's degree in International Peace and Conflict Studies (Costa Rica).
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Jordan Jackson Inspector of Mines, Mental Health and Wellbeing, WorkSafe Mines Safety, DMIRS
Jordan Jackson has worked in the mining industry for over 10 years, recently transitioning into the mental health and wellbeing area. Jordan has experience in the not-for-profit suicide prevention space, training workers and organisations in good mental health practice and assisting at-risk people experiencing a mental health crisis. Currently studying a master’s degree in Suicidology, Jordan’s role as a Mental Health and Wellbeing Inspector allows him to utilise his experience and expertise to aid mining organisations in achieving legislative compliance in psychosocial risk management. As a subject matter expert, Jordan has recently drafted guidance materials on work-related suicide, as well as the review of the FIFO code of practice on mentally healthy workplaces.
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Kath Jones Inspector of Mines, Mental Health and Wellbeing, WorkSafe Mines Safety, DMIRS
Kath Jones has worked as a psychosocial specialist inspector at WorkSafe WA for over 15 years, utilising qualifications in Psychology and Occupational Therapy to advise workplaces and legislate on compliance standards in preventing psychosocial hazards in all industries including healthcare, emergency services, construction, transport, and mining. Kath’s experience in safety and health management and expertise in applying WHS laws to psychosocial risk management led to her advising on the workplace violence and aggression, workplace behaviours, and psychosocial hazards codes of practice as a subject matter expert, and most recently in the review of the FIFO code of practice on mentally healthy workplaces. Kath is the general secretary on the national board of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of Australia and advocates for workers with disabilities on the DMIRS Access and Inclusion Committee.
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Dr Marcus Cattani Senior Lecturer in Occupational Health and Safety, School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University
Dr Marcus Cattani has worked as an academic, occupational hygienist, HSE manager and consultant in the chemical, manufacturing, engineering, and resources industries for over 30 years. Marcus is passionate about improving the management of injury risk to an acceptable level, and assisting organisations develop the risk management partnerships required to achieve this. Marcus’ research focuses on the development of educational materials to assist in understanding and managing risk, and to develop processes to measure risk. Marcus sits on the Australian Institute of Health and Safety's WA Branch Committee; College of Fellows Committee; Chamber of Minerals and Energy's Occupational Safety and Health Committee; and the Agriculture Safety Advisory Committee.
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Lorna MacGregor Chief Executive Officer, Lifeline WA
Lorna MacGregor is an experienced senior executive with a diverse and varied career predominantly in the human services sector, and more recently in the mental health sector. Since 2016 she has been the CEO of Lifeline WA and is passionate advocate for improving the accessibility of mental health and wellbeing knowledge and skills to create more compassionate communities. Lorna has an MBA specialising in strategy, is a fellow of the Australian Institute of Management and member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She was a member of the reference group for the impact of FIFO work arrangements on the mental health and wellbeing of FIFO workers report, and is currently a member of the panel of industry experts for the MARS program.
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Damien McVeigh Program Manager, MATES WA
Damien McVeigh serves as the program manager for MATES WA, a globally recognised suicide prevention peer support program with the aim of reducing suicide rates within the construction and mining industries through community development efforts. Having previously worked in the drive-in drive out (DIDO) and fly-in flyout (FIFO) construction sector, which has a predominantly masculine culture, Damien is intimately familiar with the loneliness and isolation that can accompany spending time in a 4x4 room. He understands the challenges that exist in this space. Damien joined MATES over six years ago after personally experiencing the impact of suicide occuring in his network multiple times. His motivation is to support the industry in its endeavours to reduce suicide rates.
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Julia Armitt Work Health and Safety Officer, UnionsWA
Julia Armitt has been working as the Work Health and Safety Officer at UnionsWA since 2021, joining the team at a key time to help educate unions and workers around the new WHS Act, especially psychosocial hazards and duties, under the DMIRS peak body grants program. Julia workers closely with Owen Whittle, Secretary, who led the long term union and community campaign resulting in our transformative new safety legislation. Prior to this role Julia has worked for a variety of WA and NSW unions in various roles and sectors including education workers, finance, telecommunications, media and arts workers and public sector workers, working directly at the ‘coal face’ helping workers resolve a variety of workplace issues. Julia has a keen interest in RTO matters around the education, training and support of workplace Health and Safety Representatives and hopes to see more workplaces take up the opportunity to elect more HSRs and improve WHS structures, to ultimately contribute to making workplaces safer through improved consultation.
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Professor Tim Bentley Director, MARS Centre, Edith Cowan University
Professor Tim Bentley is an experienced research leader with over 15 years of experience in research and academic leadership roles. His research actively engages with industry and the professions, influencing policy and organisational practices within Australia and New Zealand. In July 2023, Tim assumed the role of Director at the MARS Centre, an Edith Cowan University collaboration for the mining industry in the School of Business and Law. In his dual roles as MARS Centre Director and Mining Work Health and Safety (WHS) Professorial Chair, Tim leads a comprehensive program encompassing research, teaching and engagement. The program is designed to enhance the mining sector's WHS capability and foster a culture of greater respect and safety. Tim's research primarily focuses on psychosocial risk, workplace bullying, human factors and ergonomics, as well as innovative work practices. He is deeply passionate about promoting a healthy work environment to advance both organisational and employee wellbeing.
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Associate Professor Ben Farr-Wharton Deputy-Director, MARS Centre, Edith Cowan University
Dr Aglae Hernandez Grande Employee Wellbeing Researcher and Lecturer in Management, Edith Cowan University
Dr Fleur Sharafizad Lecturer in Management, School of Business and Law, Edith Cowan University
Joint presentation Dr Aglae Hernandez Grande, Dr Fleur Sharafizad and Associate Professor Ben Farr-Wharton are researchers at Edith Cowan University’s Centre for Work and Wellbeing. Over the last five years, the team have worked with a number of first responder and emergency services organisations, internationally and within Australia, using research as a vehicle to enhance employee wellbeing, mental health, productivity and safety.
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Sally North Acting WorkSafe Commissioner
Sally North is the Acting WorkSafe Commissioner, greatly valuing the opportunity to make a difference to the community through WorkSafe’s education, inspections, investigations, legal and regulatory support teams and through collaborating with stakeholders. Sally has led a WorkSafe directorate including specialist teams on human factors and ergonomics, asbestos, occupational hygiene, plant and engineering, and industry groups covering the public sector and related industries, and the retail and service industries. She has also acted as the Deputy WorkSafe Commissioner and is involved in state and national committees and working groups on work health and safety. Sally has qualifications in chemistry, OSH, occupational hygiene and business administration.
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Master of ceremonies Tim McMillan Conference facilitator and conversation specialist
Tim McMillan is currently the host of WA’s only current affairs program Flashpoint on the Seven Network and presents Seven Perth’s weekend news bulletins. He also hosts a weekly radio show Inspiring Stories on 882 6PR. Tim is a media professional with a wealth of experience across the television, radio and digital platforms and an experienced master of ceremonies and panel facilitator.
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