Workplace Injury Prevention Unit

The workplace is a vast and diverse arena, presenting a significant challenge for injury prevention. Much of our work in this area focuses on developing safe systems through understanding human abilities and weakness (or errors), and the environments in which people work. This systems approach gives us a framework for research in which the individual is considered as part of the system in which they operate.

We are currently expanding our research efforts in occupational injury, and have established the Workplace Injury Prevention Unit (WIPU) to harness the multi-disciplinary research skills found throughout MIRI. This brings together experts in human factors, epidemiology, engineering and statistics who can understand the causes and patterns of workplace injury, develop and implement potential solutions, and undertake evaluation.

This research is built on the foundation of relationships we have established with relevant industry bodies, including WorkSafe Victoria and other government agencies, insurers, regulators and non-government organisations.

Employer Performance Management Plan (EPMP)

MIRI researchers are collaborating on the evaluation of a new WorkSafe Victoria program to achieve sustainable occupational health and safety improvements within large organisations. The Employer Performance Management Program involves intensive audits and data collection from participant organisations that are combined to create a comprehensive performance report indentifying the strengths and opportunities for improvement within the workplace. The evaluation adopts the process, impact and outcome framework, and combines qualitative and quantitative measures.

Early results have indicated the program is generating meaningful insights, and a number of issues have already been taken up by the participant organisations in their action plans. While the evaluation has not yet reached firm conclusions, both WorkSafe and the participant organisations have observed a number of unanticipated positive effects.

The project is funded by Institute for Safety, Compensation and Recovery Research (ISCRR). The chief investigators are Dr Lesley Day, Dr Michael Lenne, Dr Stuart Newstead and Professor Rod McClure.