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Research
Phil Wadick has been involved in a number of empirical research projects, and he is continuously engaged in a style of personal research embodied in his commitment to reflective practice.
Current Research
Phil completed his PhD through Monash University in 2011. His main aim was to increase understanding of what factors encourage people
to take up a proactive stance in regard to workplace health and safety, and what
factors discourage such activities
Summary Of Phd Research: The WHS Triangle
A workplace needs to address the following 3 elements to provide fertile ground
for workers to be proactive in improving their work health and safety outcomes:
- Make sure that ALL workers
have adequate WHS knowledge and skills - they must understand WHS processes
and concepts and know how to use these processes and concepts. For example,
they must understand risk management and be able to conduct and become involved
in risk assessments, they must understand WHS consultation processes and
be confident to speak up and become involved in these processes, they must
receive relevant information
- Next, they must have ample opportunities to use these WHS competencies. For example,
there must be venues where speaking up is encouraged and facilitated such
as through WHS committees or representatives or staff meetings/tool box talks
and so on. There must be easily accessed and used reporting mechanisms so
they can report all incidents, hazards and risks; risk assessment processes
must exist so that workers can become involved.
- Thirdly, and often the one that gets missed, is that they must have the desire
to take advantage of the opportunities to put their knowledge and skills
into practice. This area addresses the psycho-social aspects of the workplace,
addresses their motivation - to be proactive, workers need to engage their
hearts and their minds in striving to achieve better WHS outcomes. Managers
and leaders have a large role to play in facilitating this fostering of desire
as workers learn from their actions more than from policy documents. Workers
desire to be proactive is not cultivated by a disciplinary approach to WHS
where it is more of a rule based and policing approach. It is best achieved
when workers are encouraged to speak up, to make suggestions, to admit error
so as to learn.
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