What a busy month in Safety and people are feeling it.
A great conversation at the August Safety People Forum with guests from across the country and even some insights from the changing face of Safety in the U.S.
Psychological Risk was again a large part of the conversation with imminent changes to the Victorian Legislation in particular, with businesses now planning for changes in the space. Will new roles in Psychological Risk and Specific areas of Mental Health now be required?
Some businesses were already on the front foot, initiating programs to address Psychological Risk but most still felt like it will be another thing on an already full plate. Definitely of importance, but with a laundry list of additional responsibilities being placed upon Safety Professionals you would be forgiven for thinking you must have been a carnival juggler in another life.
Gaps in team and skills was also highlighted. Some of this is due to experienced Safety Leaders stepping away from high responsibility roles, while graduates entering the sector are sorely lacking in practical knowledge to hit the ground running.
We’d be keen to hear if you’ve come across any external solutions for practical upskilling of graduate safety professions in your business.
Broader Mental Health concerns were once again a hot topic and it was highlighted that in the U.S. they have now have an emergency mental health hotline: 988 (reducing to 3 digits for alignment with other emergency services).
Yes, it’s certainly a busy time and fatigue is starting to set in. We’ll be discussing attention fatigue in our September Safety People Forum and we’d love you to be there. With the consistency of change and saturation of messaging on safety in the business, how can we keep employees engaged in the conversation so that messages are not lost in the white noise of communication.
Thank you to everyone who attended and we’re looking forward to another engaging discussion with other Safety Professionals around the country on 21 September.
Register your seat here: September Safety People Forum
