SIA Victorian Safety Conference 2017

1. 1
Research into Action
RMIT Case Studies in OHS
Susanne Tepe, Ruth Woodgate,
Janelle Corbett

2. 2
How do you know if your
students have learned
everything they need to be
OHS Professionals?

3. 3
RMITs approach to Grad Dip
C O U R S E S
•Core information
•Critical Thinking and Decision Making for OHS
•Principles and Practices in WHS
•OHS Legal Systems
•Hazard Based Information
•Ergonomics
•Chemical and Physical hazards and controls
•Psychosocial hazards
•WHS and The Organisation
C A P S T O N E
•WHS Intervention Project

4. 4
Design of OHS Program (1)
Content
Knowledge
Chemical
Physical
Ergonomic
Psychosocial
Management
systems
Emergency
management
Control
approaches

5. 5
Design of OHS Program (2)
Process
Knowledge
Communica
tion Skills
Decision
making
Stakeholder
management
Mental
models
Systems
thinking
Change
Management

6. 6
WHS Intervention Project
•Capstone course brings together of all their learning
•Choice of project reflects career aspirations
•“Do the project that will get you your next job”
•Negotiate a right size project
•Focus on Change Management processes using
Action Research
•Stakeholder management
•Evidence base
•Communication

7. 7
Action Research Project
Literature
Review
Method
Actions
Monitoring
& Evaluation
Stakeholder
management

8. 8
Examples of Projects
Working within their organisations
projects supported by the boss
Working with another organisation
Stakeholder communication essential

9. 9
Implementation of a student placement – job
specific induction program for social work
students
Issue
Investigation if existing onboarding and induction processes met the
information & training needs of students on placement in child
protection
Approach
• Training needs analysis – interviewing stakeholders including
current and former students
• Research within the organisation to identify best practice to address
the gaps. This included the evaluation of a previous OHS
Intervention on child car seats
• Development of five self-directed, multimedia, e-learning modules
including checklists & assessments
• Testing, evaluation & implementation

10. 10
Mental Health in a Research Organisation
KEYES, C. L. M. 2007. Promoting and Protecting Mental Health as Flourishing. American Psychologist, 62, 95-108.
PAGE, K. M., MILNER, A., TCHERNISTSKAIA, I. & LAMONTAGNE, T. 2014. Creating Thriving Workplaces. Superfriend.

11. 11
Safety communication in schools

12. 12
Measures of Success
Primary stakeholder all happy
passed their degrees; got the new jobs
Organisations got projects done although
Project outcomes were not always as imagined
Final write up becomes a case study for
subsequent students to use as references

13. 13
Take Home Messages from Students
Get stakeholder buy in from the start
Be aware of scope creep
Meet primary stakeholder requirements
Stakeholder engagement and communication the
key to success
Go with the organisational flow

14. 14
Take Home Message for Educators
Help the student define that right size project
Be flexible
Make sure the project is do-able
Be flexible
Keep in touch
Be flexible

15. 1515
Panel Discussion