Confusion over new safety laws should be worrying all business owners and managers including solo operators and those who work from home.

The serious issues are that OH&S laws are actually a form of criminal law and while there has been 30 years of case law precedent establishing what people reasonably and practically control, “harmonising” what is done in all states and bringing it all in line with the Fair Work Act has added a layer of concern.

This concern is around the emphasis from NSW which push the focus away from prevention towards something which seems to be systematically causing increased prosecution.

Important issues are:

- the removal of the right to remain silent to prevent incriminating yourself for business owners and managers and

- the ability of the work safe authorities to seize a business without court supervision. 

I really do not like the concept of people who are distressed and in shock being forced to answer questions immediately without any legal help. 

And all this is combined with greatly increased fines.  The size of the fines are such that this puts both the viability of the business and also the owner’s family home at risk with no right to silence.

Spring into reducing business risk and boosting your business

I am not a wildly domesticated person but I always find spring is a time of renewed enthusiasm and action and I do spring clean. 

Last weekend I spent the glorious spring weather in the garden and discovered muscles that hoped they had been forgotten.  They complained.

I take this a step further and look at what needs clearing out in my business also and thoroughly recommend this.  If things are quiet, use the time to do a business spring clean

Check through your expenses and see what can be reduced.  Where are you wasting money?  And wasting time?

This is a good time to review and be well prepared to take advantage of opportunities you may be too busy to notice normally and to move into the good times that do always follow the downtimes.

Focus on how everyone can improve their performance and improve the business.

Most importantly look for gaps and areas that are a risk and work out how to fix them. 

You do need to make sure you have your OH&S under control ready for the new federal safety laws which the government is calling “harmonised” safety.  Not sure about the term harmony in the federal sphere myself but you do need to cover this!

Come to one of my Workshops because I will help you to give your business a real boost to move into summer and next year with renewed vigour and less risk.  This will cover one third of an integrated ISO management system that includes safety AS/NZS 4801, quality ISO 9001 and environment ISO 14001. 

The cost is only $97 instead of the real value of $2,750 and I organised this subsidy because I recognise that so many small business people are very confused about what is needed so they are unwilling to pay the real cost for something they would prefer would go away.

The issue is that business risk, staff errors and the general pressure that you are under as a small business person does not go away and ignoring this costs you time and money that you discover how to avoid when you come to my workshop.

It will give real value and protection to those of you who don’t feel any need to have a certified system and if you do decide to become certified, some of the June people completed their system in just less than three months.

You will discover ways to save energy and reduce your power bills and at the same time, reduce your carbon footprint

You will discover the reasons why most tenders just get thrown in the bin and this is so important for some businesses that are missing out this important part of their business because of all the extra requirements.  YOU can be like Anthony Saba of Greenplay who won a $1 million dollar tender only a few weeks after starting to work with me.

And this will only cost you $97 for two days of quality training.  I promise you will get incredible value.  You don’t want to miss this so book in at www.enviroaction.com.au/boost.html

Melbourne is comming up very fast so hurry to book this one for October 8th and 9th

Melbourne October 8th and 9th,  Ether Centre, 265 Bourke St, Melbourne

Adelaide  November 19th and 20th, Hotel Grand Chancellor on Hindley

My kindest regards,

Jean

Articles

Bored with Carbon Chaos?

I certainly am.  This is an important issue and it has become a circus.  When climate scientists get violence threatened to them, this is totally ridiculous.

It is a fact that the earth is warming up.  Some people disagree about why and that is normal.

The Arctic ice is melting and as it warms, the dark water absorbs the sun’s heat instead of the white ice reflecting it.  So the sea warms faster and more ice melts.

At the same time the ocean currents are changing.

This does confuse people because the countries in the north Atlantic that are normally kept warm in winter by the Gulf Stream current are getting blizzards as they are getting colder locally with less Gulf Stream.

The insurance industry is reeling from the huge increases in catastrophic weather events – predicted when the global temperature increases.

Whether you believe this climate change is man made or not, it is worth reducing your energy use because you will save money on your energy bills...... read more

Independent Contractors say national OH&S laws should be reviewed

Independent Contractors Australia have called for national occupational health and safety laws to be revised before they come into law next year, arguing the proposed changes are confusing, strip employers of their right to silence and allow OH&S authorities to seize businesses and their property without court oversight.

Some of their complaints are very valid while others are not really a change so much as an awakening of the reality of shared responsibility....

Important News for Melbourne/ Adelaide/ Gold Coast Businesses....

I have a passion for helping small business owners to develop systems and strategies to maximise your EFFICIENCY, PROFIT and minimise your RISK!

I am offering this workshop at the incredibly low price of $97 (normally $2,750) to truly help small business owners be successful in a tough economic climate.

You love what you do and you’re passionate about it but are you running your business efficiently?

And here’s the big question….are you making a profit?

Set aside 2 days to learn how to do this better and you won’t look back.

p.s. Most  of my readers tell me this newsletter is a great way of getting up to date information easily but if you are really snowed under by lots of emails from other sources you can chose to keep in touch by emailling jean@jeancannon.com.au and go onto the monthly list.