Foreword

A few years ago I wouldn’t have given a conscious thought to safety in the workplace.  Safety wasn’t really an issue – nothing was unsafe as long as you used a “common sense” approach. Like many others, over time I began to realise that “common sense” doesn’t really exist.  What I consider sensible someone else might consider silly, and what I considered unsafe someone else might consider a “calculated risk”.

Trouble is, all too often those “calculated risks” lead to injury.  Over time, thankfully, the “common sense” reality is being replaced with a more realistic culture – safety awareness.  Sure, it’s taken more than a century of argument and legislation to get us there, and there are still a lot of people who think our workplace health and safety is far too regulated, but in such a melting pot society where individuals all have a different understanding of what constitutes safe practice, regulation is essential.  No-one wants a police state, but there has to be a framework in place to ensure that everyone has the same advantages.  In that respect, Australia is well advanced.

If my blog can contribute to the health and safety of workers by publicising regulations in a way that lay people can understand, then I will be achieving my goal.