WhyWork Podcast

Season 09 Episode 07: Trading Up – Work in the Sex Trade

WARNING: This episode refers to adult entertainment work domains – we advise listener discretion.

Alan explores workplace claims involving an adult entertainment specialist, debating work arrangements and business entitlements. In doing so, he reveals some of the traits of a business contracting ‘done right.’ Work is work and the sex trade represents a legitimate industry and workplace with regular entitlements, says Trajce. Sara commends Alan, “I’m so glad you thought to discuss successes,” as she reflects on studying success and the value of simplicity as much as, if not mor...

Season 09 Episode 06: Skylarking yet Held to a Higher Standard

WARNING: This episode refers to workplace bullying and harassment - we advise listener discretion.

This episode explores the job duties that prevail even after you’ve clocked off – at least, in view of public expectation. The crew debate: Does your job outlive its tenure and should you be judged by it in your personal life?

“Never have I ever!” exclaims Trajce, while Alan shares tales of some ‘nudie nut’ coppers and party time frivolity. He adds to these stories with a story about a member of th...

Season 09 Episode 05: It is All Too Human: Why Prosecute?

WARNING: This episode includes discussion on a serious workplace injury - we advise listener discretion.

Degloved and prosecuted - Why pursue an employee whose judgment lapsed, and they are already in a world of pain from a gruesome workplace injury? The team are flummoxed by the idea of governmental prosecutions of individuals versus organisations, given their beliefs that workplace incidents reflect systemic imbalances and erosion factors.

The podcasters, Alan, Trajce, and Sara review a case of a workers who was degloved by a meat...

Season 09 Episode 04: The Moral Compass of the Law

“The idea of a moral compass of the law assumes that we care about caring,” Sara provokes. “We cannot escape the moral compass of the law,” Trajce warns. Alan agrees, “Good laws reflect good moral judgment.”

The podcasters explore contemporary, newsworthy topics related to moral injury. Sara describes moral injury, an occupational psychosocial hazard, as a cross-cutting hazard – one that crosscuts acute and cumulative exposure pathways. Listen to more on this to understand ethical challenges to one’s sense of integrity. The WhyWork Podcast crew, Alan, Trajce, and Sara explore...

Season 09 Episode 03: "Top o' the morning to ya!"

The WhyWork Podcast team marvel at a case when a seemingly simple salutation triggers a workplace dismissal. “Was it fair?’ Trajce begs the question. Alan asks about material misconduct and whether a belief related to the cause of an offence is reasonable justification for dismissal.

This is a provocative episode, prompting deep thought on when play becomes concerning, and justifiable misconduct. Alan and Sara revel in the debate on sentiment, intention, and the impacts at work when you but your foot in your mouth. “Yes, like what about...

Season 09 Episode 02: Spyware - Yah, baby! It’s all the rage

The team debate a question in workplace dismissals: “Was the sacking harsh, unjust, or unreasonable?”

Alan presents the new way of working as an inspector – using body-worn cameras in investigations. He argues, “If you are capturing someone’s personal information, a video of them, a voice recording, and their interactions, the person should receive a copy of what has been captured.” Trajce and Sara weigh in on the debate, with workplace trends rampant in the use of spyware software, tracking keystrokes, and meeting attendance. Sara reminds t...

Season 09 Episode 01 of the WhyWork Podcast begins with sensational media gossip that leads the team, Alan, Sara, and Trajce (aka “Ziggy,” the pop music master), down a pathway of discussion on the bounds of workplace dismissal. Yes, the Coldplay incident. Trajce asks about reasonable workplace treatment when the scope of query encroaches upon one’s personal life. They discuss what happens when a worker is caught “pashing off” with someone unexpected and the taboos around workplace relationships. Trajce uses another example - when an employee refuses to take an alcohol breath test to demonstrate fitness for work.

The podcas...

Season 09 Trailer 06: Refugees

Trajce advance's a refugees claim of years of bullying, micromanagment, and discrimination. The team, Alan, Trajce, and Sara, wrangle with the 'ColdPlay'd-gate' escapades and the symbolic implications of workplace power relations.

Tune in to the release of Season 09 for a focus on workplace terminations for all manner of challenging reasons - coming soon!

Season 09 Trailer 05: Autopilot mode

"How many times have you done something silly but you've been in autopilot mode?" reflects Sara when considering human factors and relatable fallabilities. Humans also innovate and improve work systems. Season 09 is coming soon, talking about more whacky case law, relatable faux-pas, and dissection of human behaviour. Stay tuned for more coming your way.

Season 09 Trailer 04: PRAiSE - Psychosocial Risk Assessment and Integrated Solutions for Employers. The team reflect on "The best psychosocial instrument on the planet," as Trajce aludes, while Alan struggles with prosecutions of employees in Work Health Safety Legislation.

Season 09 Trailer 03: Nothing but dismissals - can't we all just get along?

Season 09 takes listeners down a workplace dismissal path. Alan, Trajce, and Sara explore workplace conflicts and government prosecutions in work health and safety law. Alan struggles... listen in for more on this with Season 09 releases - coming soon!

Season 09 Trailer 02: Bring it on - The kaleidoscope of workplace mishaps. Get ready for more humour and confronting tales - Season 09, coming soon.

Season 09 Trailer 01: Back in black - we're back... soon!

Back in black - we're coming back soon for Season 09. Great ready for more quips about contemporary events and controversial stories, laced with insights from diverse perspectives. We explore business strategy, work design, human factors, and work health safety case law. The more things change, the more things stay the same...!

Season 09 Trailer 06: Refugees

Trajce advance's a refugees claim of years of bullying, micromanagment, and discrimination. The team, Alan, Trajce, and Sara, wrangle with the 'ColdPlay'd-gate' escapades and the symbolic implications of workplace power relations.

Tune in to the release of Season 09 for a focus on workplace terminations for all manner of challenging reasons - coming soon!

Season 09 Trailer 05: Autopilot mode

"How many times have you done something silly but you've been in autopilot mode?" reflects Sara when considering human factors and relatable fallabilities. Humans also innovate and improve work systems. Season 09 is coming soon, talking about more whacky case law, relatable faux-pas, and dissection of human behaviour. Stay tuned for more coming your way.

Season 09 Trailer 04: PRAiSE - Psychosocial Risk Assessment and Integrated Solutions for Employers. The team reflect on "The best psychosocial instrument on the planet," as Trajce aludes, while Alan struggles with prosecutions of employees in Work Health Safety Legislation.

Season 09 Trailer 03: Nothing but dismissals - can't we all just get along?

Season 09 takes listeners down a workplace dismissal path. Alan, Trajce, and Sara explore workplace conflicts and government prosecutions in work health and safety law. Alan struggles... listen in for more on this with Season 09 releases - coming soon!

S09 Trailer 02: Bring it on - The kaleidoscope of workplace mishaps. Get ready for more humour and confronting tales - Season 09, coming soon.

Back in black - we're coming back soon for Season 09. Great ready for more quips about contemporary events and controversial stories, laced with insights from diverse perspectives. We explore business strategy, work design, human factors, and work health safety case law. The more things change, the more things stay the same...!

Season 08 Episode 13: Re-release Episode: Kozorov and the Need for Purpose

WARNING: This episode refers to traumas involving children - we advise listener discretion.

We re-release S01 E13 in the wake of growing concerns about psychosocial risk management in the workplace. This case is about vicarious trauma - the long-term psychological distress that can arise among workers arising from secondary exposures to traumatic events. In this case, it s about a lawyer who encounters real-world accounts of horrific circumstances - such as suicide and child pornography.

Exposure to secondary trauma is a reality of...

Season 08 Episode 12: Jumping Castles Part Two

WARNING: This episode includes discussion about fatal events impacting children and families – we advise listener discretion.

The WhyWork Podcast Team, Alan, Trajce, and Sara, discuss the complexities of a prosecutorial strategy when fatal events occur at a school: children who die as a result of a windstorm and out-of-control, airborne jumping castle. Those involved in the work design include a jumping castle supplier, the workplace host, a school, and an overseas manufacturer.

Alan shares his grief in retelling this tale and pays his respect to the families an...

Season 08 Episode 11: Toolbox Talk: Acknowledgement of Country

WARNING: This episode addresses cultural sensitivity issues in the workplace – we advise listener discretion.

Trajce challenges his podcast team, Alan, and Sara, with a claim about cultural sensitivities. He shares a tale about a street sweeper’s unfair dismissal by a local government city council after he raised his concerns about the Acknowledgement of Country before a toolbox session. To add probative value to the engineering of this dismissal, Trajce explains, the employer complained about the worker's failure to attend cultural sensitivity training. “The problem?” Trajce asks, “the employee w...

Season 08 Episode 10: Darth Vader and the handshake of death

Alan, Trajce, and Sara start this episode in discussion about the social etiquette of handshakes. Alan advocates for the politeness of the handshake in business negotiations, and Trajce explains his handshake aversions, and the origins of a handshake.

In this reverie, Trajce reflects on his support band, warming up big names in the 1980’s, like The Village People and Kim Wilde. Sara shares details bout her fun night out listening to Tyne James Organ and Jacob Fitzgerald & the Electric City live at a local venue.

...

Season 08 Bonus: WhyNOT? A Wisdom Shot: Creating joyful paths

This wisdom shot challenges workplaces to think about creating joyful paths in their workplace, versus hoping someone falls into a path of joy. It's about using service design combined with human factors approaches to construct manageable and meaningful work while managing psychosocial risks.

Season 08 Episode 09: Psychosocial Hazard Salad

In this episode, the team discusses the challenges in the contemporary workplace of managing the complexity of psychosocial risks that can cause mental health disorders among workers – disorders like anxiety, stress, low mood, and depression. Sara laments the literature and assessment approaches that reveal the “What?” without explaining the “SO What?” and “NOW What?” Alan loves that level of thinking, acknowledging that without this level of guidance, businesses can spin their wheels, directionless. Sara explains a research paper on necessary condition analysis describing four factors that, in their absence, preclude a diagnosis of depression...

Season 08 Episode 08: Levellin’ Up: Health Screening vs Human Rights

“It is my human right to grab a meat pie from the local pie cart,” Trajce defends his actions. “Everyone is stressed, so what is your stress level?” enquires Alan, in his effort to empathise and disarm a respondent. “What’s your level, not your age, but your level?” asks Sara, “We’re levelling up – that’s empowering!”

This episode extends discussion on the events surrounding S08 E02: Christmas Day Code Blue. In this episode, the WhyWork crew dig into the uncomfortable truth that many wellness initiatives are a shiny di...

Season 08 Episode 07: Danger, Design, and Digital Realities

WARNING: This episode discusses injuries caused by recreational fixed plan – we advise listener discretion.

“How do you design better work when the risks are invisible, intangible, or hard to map?" asks Trajce. In this forward-thinking episode, the WhyWork crew explores how Shared Virtual Presence (SVP) is transforming the way organisations approach risk, work design, and collaboration.

Trajce shares his perspective on the value of SVP in creating shared language and visible systems thinking, and Alan digs into how digitised assessments are finally bringing mental health into main...

Season 08 Episode 06: Rootin’ Tootin’ Wild Theme Park Rides: When Fun turns Fatal

WARNING: This episode discusses a serious injury to a child – we advise listener discretion.

“Theme parks are workplaces where serious harm could eventuate,” bemoans Trajce.

In this gripping episode, the WhyWork crew dive into the devastating case of a child who suffered a traumatic scalping injury while on a Wile E. Coyote-themed amusement ride

Alan walks us through the case, unpacking the sequence of mechanical and human errors. Trajce brings his classic bluntness and empathy, highlighting how poor design choices...

Season 08 Episode 05: Is it a crime? The syrupy sweetness of criminal recovery, comebacks, and swearing in the workplace

WARNING: This episode discusses human rights breaches - we advise listener discretion.

Does a criminal record mean a life sentence of unemployment? This episode dives into how past convictions keep people locked out of work. Alan reflects, “Inclusive hiring isn’t charity. It’s good business sense. We should not define skills and character by a past conviction.” Alan recounts a case of a government employee hampered by a past criminal investigation. Listen in to learn about the resu...

Season 08 Episode 04: Nipple Tweaks & Bottom Taps: The border between play and predatory assault

WARNING: This episode includes discussion on sexual harassment - we advise listener discretion.

Ever wondered when ‘just joking’ becomes sexual harassment? In this eye-opening episode, we unpack real stories of workplace encounters that cross the line—like unwanted bottom taps or nipple tweaks (Are these ever really okay?!) . Alan, Trajce, and Sara discuss why dismissing these actions as both banter and play lets disrespect thrive. Sara says, “We need to normalise calling out these moments, not laugh them off.” Trajce adds, “People think it’s h...

Season 08 Episode 03: Too much to carry: The case that alters the landscape of mining prosecutions

WARNING: In this episode, the podcasters discuss extreme mental health duress - we advise listener discretion.

Noone died. But two workers were emotionally broken by the weight of their jobs – this time, the system noticed.

In this episode of WhyWork, we explore a landmark $1.2M enforceable undertaking in mining. Not for a collision, Not for a fire. Not for an explosion. And not for a fatality, but for two finance staff affected by their crushing workloads, bl...

Season 08 Trailer 06: Profiling workers: Who is most at risk? Season 08 probes these contemporary work design strategies - from construction workers bitten by a spider while they visit the loo to healthcare professionals prone to work stressors and cardiovascular events.

Season 08 Episode 02: Christmas Day Code Blue: A Tassie healthcare system wake-up call

WARNING: This episode describes a fatality – we urge listening discretion.

In this episode, the WhyWork team debate the issues surrounding a senior hospital doctor who, for years, carried the weight of a health system on his back. His widow’s lawyer claimed he worked seven days a week and was on call 24/7. He shielded his staff from the bureaucracy and advocated for better staffing care ratios. He managed increasingly complex client care presentations. This is a story of duty, care, and silence.

On...

Season 08 Bonus: WhyNOT? A Wisdom Shot: Work, rest, and play

Should employees be permitted to disconnect from their workplace during their 'downtime'? Alan discusses The Fair Work Ammendment Right to Disconnect Bill 2023 which makes it legislatively clear that the provisions in work health safety laws intend to support workers. Alan contends that workers need to recharge and replenish versus always being 'ON' at work. "... Work, rest, and play," croons Trajce, citing the candybar jingle.

For more on this, listen to:

S06 E07: We revisit the right to disconnect, &

S05 E03: Grab...

Season 08 Episode 01: Flora, Fauna, and the ‘Port-a-Loo’: Beware the arachnids

In this season opener of WhyWork Podcast, we forgo the spreadsheets and the performance statistics – we go straight to storytelling. A toilet. A spider. And a young worker’s unforgettable encounter with risk realities interrupting his routines – when faced with an arachnoid phenom, it was up close and highly personal. “Not once, but TWICE!” exclaims Trajce.

“Sometimes, work gets weird,” Alan laments, as he shares disarmingly intimate conversational snippets from his men’s group. Sara chimes, “And that is where the truth lives!”

This episode is about th...

Season 08 Trailer 05: 'Feasibility and foreseeability of becoming a croc sandwich for a day' toys with the season's examination of exposure to wild critters during both work and tourist play. Coming soon.

Season 08 Trailer 04: 'Stress, and more stress,' warns Trajce, "Ai-O, Ai-O, It's off to work we go..." Get ready to listen to Season 08 releases coming soon...

Season 08 WhyNOT? A Wisdom Shot: Botty Botch Botox - Trajce is excited by Botox at work as his incentive to get back to the office. Sara is dismayed, and Alan is humoured (we recommend that you use your own discretion in this debate!).

Season 08 Trailer 03 Teases stories about healthcare, male-on-male workmate attention, Darth Vader, mining prosecutions, and so much more. "It's extraordinary!" exclaims Alan. "Watch this audio space," invites Trajce.

Season 08 Trailer 02: Secret handshakes

Criminal work, health, and safety law convictions, children injured on theme rides, and secret handshakes - do you have one? Tune in, more coming on these topics in Season 08.

Season 08 Bonus: WhyNOT? A Wisdom Shot: To sink or to SWMS?!

The Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) debate is hot and Trajce summarises his research while giving it to us straight: SWMS or no, they have made little difference in organisations, and with or without one, fatalities may still arise in organisations. Listen to Season 06 E12: It's going SWM'ingly to learn more about this finding!

Season 08 Trailer 01: Faux Paus and Flummoxes: life is like a maze, listen to the WhyWork Podcasters recording mishaps as they prepare to release Season 08 - we're back!

Season 07 Bonus 05: Mock Podcast: "Diamonds were her best friend... until carats became complaints - Part 3

Listen to this Part 3, final in a series of 3 Parts, of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Association of Australia (HFESA) 2024 Annual Conference, Brisbane, Queensland special-episode interactive workshop on work design and case law. This episode encourages workshop delegates to examine a case of a jeweller, his magnanimous gift giving to a sales representative, and their mutual workplace experiences.

This Part 3 episode provides the platform for delegates of the HFESA 2024 Annual Conference WhyWork Podcast to debate the industrial relations and work...

Season 07 Bonus 02: Mock Podcast: "Diamonds were her best friend... until carats became complaints - Part 2

Listen to this Part 2 of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Association of Australia (HFESA) 2024 Annual Conference, Brisbane, Queensland special-episode interactive workshop on work design and case law. This episode encourages workshop delegates to examine a case of a jeweller, his magnanimous gift giving to a sales representative, and their mutual workplace experiences. The episode discusses workplace relations, fairness, gift-giving, psychosocial hazards, and organisational management. Listen in as the delegates apply design tools, like personas, empathy mapping, journey mapping, focussed recall, and interactive...

Season 07 Bonus 03: Mock Podcast: "Diamonds were her best friend... until carats became complaints" - Part 1.

This episode was presented during the Human Factors and Ergonomics Association of Australia (HFESA) 2024 Annual Conference, Brisbane, Queensland. The episode outlines the details of workplace affairs when too much bling and not enough boundaries become fodder for a workplace complaint. The dissection of the case of workplace relations between a jeweller and a store shop worker that eroded and resulted in a landmark payout under the Australian Sex Discrimination Act (Refer Taylor v August and Pemberton Pty Ltd - [2023] FCA 1313). "Love makes...

Season 07 Trailer 06: Special Release Episode Part 3: Shiny things or shadowy motives?

Human Factors and Ergonomics Association of Australia (HFESA) Annual Conference 2024 workshop - Special Release Episode Part 3: Shiny things or shadowy motives? On the road and on tour: Listeners become podcasters for a day - Serious learning done playfully.

Season 07 Trailer 05: Special Release Episode Part 2: Shiny things or shadowy motives?

Human Factors and Ergonomics Association of Australia (HFESA) Annual Conference 2024 workshop - Special Release Episode Part 2: Shiny things or shadowy motives? This could be a part of your workplace, listen in, and enjoy. If you attended the workshop, you might hear yourself on air - part of the story.

Season 07 Trailer 04: Human Factors and Ergonomics Association of Australia (HFESA) Annual Conference 2024 workshop - Special Release Episode Part 1: Shiny things or shadowy motives? The dimininishing sparkle of blurred lines, crossed boundaries, gift giving, and unclear relationships forming in the workplace.

Season 07 Episode 11: From ‘Command & Control’ to ‘Customer Service’ – Beyond ‘hazard salad’ in psychosocial risk management.

The team revel in debate about the new Queensland state and Commonwealth government literature on psychosocial risk management. Sara is relieved to see updates to regulations on psychosocial risks (Work Health and Safety [Psychosocial Risks] Amendment Regulation 2022) because of their focus on work design. Trajce explains aspects of The Commonwealth Code of Practice: Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work (Dec 2023) which includes “intrusive surveillance” as a psychosocial hazard, requiring employer risk management and interventions. The team reference Season 01 Episode 05: Kozorov and The Need for Purpose – an e...

Season 07 Episode 10: That old chestnut –Pets & work from home

Pets at home or in the office are a ‘thing’ in modern workplaces. Alan explains, “Some organisations host ‘dog for the day’ events.” Trajce shares his faith-based workplace perk, a ‘Blessing of the animals,’ whether the animal is a police horse, a guinea pig, a dog, or cat. In response, Sara dreams of being blessed which prompts the boys to imagine Sara in all kinds of ‘furry’ dress-up costume scenes. In response to Sara’s protests, Alan concedes, “Sara is just a party animal.”

Trajce describes a Work Cover claim involving...

Season 07 Episode 09: Gilmore versus Blue Care: A hankering for sex

WARNING: This episode includes discussion on a workplace sexual assault – we advise listener discretion.

Alan introduces the case, Gilmore versus Blue Care, a community home care provider. In this case, a personal carer submitted her claim against her employer because of her report of sexual assault when providing daily living support to older men living in a group home. These men each had various forms of mental health disorders and daily living support needs, necessitating their care provision. However, Alan paints the scenario of collective vu...

Season 07 Episode 08: Bollywood & The Digital Footprint

This episode starts with Sara reflecting on the nature of her spirit animal and the symbols of her brand identity: a mix of frivolity and banditry. For more on spirit animals, tune in to S02 E14: Spirit Animals.

Trajce introduces a case on an injured worker who submitted a claim against her employer, a national grocery chain. The claim arose from her experience of heel pain. However, the employer discovered that the injured worker enjoyed dancing and maintained this activity throughout her claim period. In fact, she danced "with...

Season 07 Episode 07: AI Ethics: A Beautifully Shambolic Disaster

WARNING: This episode includes discussion on a workplace fatality – we advise listener discretion.

“Artificial Intelligence (AI) is off its tree!” protests Trajce. “This stuff is dangerous. Its hallucinogenic – a beautifully shambolic disaster. Society must put the rails on it.” “Are you going to try to reign in Sara?” asks Alan, “Impossible!” he follows.

Trajce explains his experiencing on using AI to research case law. Tested three times, the AI spit out a different version of events. He warns against the implications to legal practitioners on relying on such inco...

Season 07 Episode 06: Free to air - The blue channels and digging in the trenches

WARNING: This episode includes discussion on both sex and serious workplace fatalities and injuries – we advise listener discretion.

“Have you guys heard about the airline kerfuffle?” nudges Sara, as she shares a media report, “There was a flaw in the movie selection technology.”

“It was a bit romantic, maybe a bit too romantic,” agrees Alan. “Bare boobs and prosthetic penises, or so the story goes,” Sara elaborates. She asks the boys, Trajce and Alan, to consider the impacts on workers and the po...

Season 07 Episode 05: Tickle versus Giggle for Girls

WARNING: This episode discusses a fatal incident – we advise listeners to use their discretion.

Alan shares a human right’s case on 'Tickle versus Giggle for Girls,' an alleged case of discrimination from joining a ‘club’ via a service App based on gender identity. “This is squarely political,” says Trajce, “each party has a strong interest group behind them as this case enters into appeal.

Trajce shares more stories on these issues and his experience on managing the allocation of toileting facilities (loos and showers) based on gende...

Season 07 Episode 04: Cheap and nasty: The unintended consequences of workplace interventions

This episode extends the discussion from Season 07 Episode 02 on workplace incentives. Thank you, Michael Grima, who shared a media report on paid Tinder leave benefits. “You get paid to go out on a date?” Alan marvels. “Love me, Tinder…” Trajce croons. “I guess being in love is supposed to make you productive,” Sara reasons. Trajce digs in, “Coffee, Botox, I’ll take it all. I’ll buy in I’m cheap and nasty!”

Sara needles the boys to consider the legal implications of a workplace incentive gone...

Season 07 Episode 03: Passionate or polemic?

Alan and Trajce poke the bear of workplace diplomacy with examples from politics. Alan share a story of a city mayor who referred to a new councillor as a ‘ranga.’ “What’s a ‘ranga’?” asks Trajce. Listen to this episode to find out!

Trajce shares more stories about politicians and their apologies to cover their gaffes. In turn, Sara challenges the boys to think about middle-ground and high-ground fatigue, when being politically correct is simply bland. “Passionate or polemic?” Trajce teases, after remarking on the power of words. “Words break your heart,” Alan sh...

Season 07 Episode 02: Workplace incentives to combat the return-to-office ball-&-chain

The WhyWork crew, Alan, Trajce, and Sara, revel in entertaining stories about novel workplace incentives to motivate staff to return to the office. Thanks to Dr Agustin Chevez for sharing the story about cosmetic Botox booths as a workplace return-to-the-office incentive. Alan cautions, “Take care not to make your workplace incentive look like a contractual agreement.”

Sara shares her angst about the common phenomenon of workplace mediocrity versus innovation. “If you’re free from workplace innovation fatigue,” says Trajce, “call Sara.” She discusses more on Dr. Chevez’s w...

Season 07 Episode 1: Two Years of WhyWork: Celebrations, Travel, Trivialising Workplace Safety, and Design

Celebrations - The team, Alan, Trajce, and Sara reflect on their two years of podcast recordings together. “Has it been two years?” Alan and Sara marvel as Trajce announces their two-year anniversary.

Trajce delivers a delicious view on his recent travels to Montmartre, France, and his experience with the art of Burlesque theatre. He advocates for holiday travel to his recent destination of Slovenia, “It has a Tassie vibe,” he makes as a comparison much to Alan’s surprise, “Or maybe it’s a Slavic Tas...

In this special WhyM’scal Mash re-mix episode with Alan, Trajce, and Sara, we dive into the unpredictable world of psychosocial exposures at work, blending excerpts from jaw-dropping, thought-provoking stories from past episodes. From the festive chaos of a Christmas party gone awry (S01 E01: Bubbles of Trouble) to a tourism industry tale featuring unexpected and unwelcome behaviour in shared accommodations (hint: it was more than a piss up, [S02 E07: 4 Men and Women 2]), this mash-up explores the complex and sometimes bizarre challenges that arise when work intersects with human behaviour.

It doesn’t stop there. We tack...

Season 07 Bonus o1 - Re-Release Episode - a little frivolty to start the new year. What is your Spirit Animal?. The river otter, the wise owl, and the transformation of a deer to a stag and back again. When ‘fuzzy science’ can be meaningful in terms of personality profiles, values, and our behaviours. Why not have fun and reflect on who we are, how we are, and why? This episode reveals more intimate details about the mugs from backwater Brissie: Trajce, Alan, and Sara.

Season 07 Trailer 03: We're back to unpack - Botox, s3x offences, Bollywood dancing, and work from home topics are on their way to your listening ear.

Season 07 Trailer 02: A teaser on the exploration of the entertainment industry and issues of principal contractors managing subcontractors - it all blows up when there is a fatality.

Season 07 Trailer 01: Botox and Bollywood, a teaser on more to follow in WhyWork Season 07.

Season 06 Episode 15: Turbulence on the ground

WARNING: we discuss a passenger fatality - listener discretion advised.

Thank you to subscriber, Grace Kennedy, for suggesting this topic. Grace described her experience in the airport arrivals lounge when passengers headed down an escalator to collect their luggage. The passenger congestion was significant, causing a pile up so severe that this led to people back pedalling on the escalator, attempting to walk backward to return to the floor above.

“Airports are busy, and this would not be the first time to consider cranky travellers,” remarks Alan. Traj...

Season 06 Episode 14: From the club to the courtroom

WARNING: This episode includes refences to both sex and suicide - listener discretion advised.

Trajce presents a judgement from the United Kingdom involving a lawyer hiring a law student as his legal secretary. The confronting aspect of this scenario? They first met in a strip club where she worked as a stripper to fund her studies.

“This reeks of people and power. In this scenario,” probes Sara, “does this lawyer think that he can ask anything of his personal assistant?” Trajce shares more details: in the inte...

Season 06 Epsiode 13: From underwear to underworld: Criminal ties

WARNING: This episode includes sexual references - listener discretion is advised.

Trajce jokes about purchasing a pair of Tradie’s underwear, a discussion thread continuing from Season 05 Episode 04. Trajce wonders if ads like this offend peoples' sensibilities.

Alan responds, “There will not be many situations in a workplace when you would contemplate showing a video of people in their underwear.” Sara asserts that context matters, arguing “You can’t judge an event for infinity – the spirit of the times matters, the ‘zeitgeist’.” Alan reassures her, “You’re exactly right...

Season 06 Episode 12: It's going SWM'ingly

The podcasters, Trajce, Alan, and Sara, discuss the conventions of establishing Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS). Alan likens SWMS to mythology, rigorously enforced from powers that be, though he believes that the legal doctrine supporting them is unclear. Alan asks, “Do they really work?”

Trajce shares his research on breaches of work health and safety law, including fatal events. “In these cases,” he reveals, “90% of the defendants presented a SWMS – 517 cases, in fact.” In these cases, the SWMS were either not followed, not well considered or constructed, or work simply changed and th...

Seaon 06 Episode 11: The collective sighs - let's talk about s-X, baby

Let’s talk about…. sex as a primal survival urge. The WhyWork Podcast reflect on their debate about the Australian Tradie’s underwear ads discussed in Season 05 Episode 04. Sara makes a joke about performance drivers much to the chagrin of the boys, when Trajce quotes a Talking Heads lyric, “We’re on the road to nowhere…”

Sara explains primal inner-mammal neurobehavioural drivers of human activity, philosophies advanced by researcher Dr Loretta Breuning , and the ways in which these ideas are used in gaming technology, could improve...

Season 06 Episode 10: Moooo – It’s a stampede!

WARNING: A fatality is discussed in this episode – listener discretion is advised.

Country boy Alan shares a story about cows in Wales. In this case, a cow went haywire while farm workers offloaded it from its transit vehicle to a pen. The cow was agitated, jumped off its ramp, killing a 75 y/o farmworker, and injuring another man. “Can you keep the cattle calm?” begs Trajce. They team dissect the case, remarking on the lack of enclosures and barriers as restraints on the spooked bovine creature. This case prompts Tr...

Season 06 Episode 09: IRL? In Real Life? Software solutions and AI in work design

Trajce struggles with the ideas of ‘flow efficiency,’ likening this to urine tract functioning. Sorry, Anna Linning - a subscriber who asked about ‘flow’… Alan connects the idea to Flo’s scones, Flo Bjelke-Petersen’s famous pumpkin scones. Sara brings the boys back around to discuss psychological flow, theories from Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and links these ideas to job redesign and software solutions. She shares one of the ViVA team’s software solution partners, “Beam me up with Beamible” for agile job design with what-if scenarios and cost a...

Season 06 Episode 08: The sentinel gateway - keeper of the path ahead

WARNING: This episode discusses a workplace fatality - listener discretion is advised.

Alan shares an industrial safety law case involving the disrepair of a gate, which prompts Trajce to reflect on his early-career prosecution of an industrial gate failure, leading to the news headline, “Fallen gate crushes mum.” The team remark on the feasibility and severity of these events deserving serious assessment, challenging the reliance on probabilistic risk assessments versus consequence. Sara shares a work reality of the difficulty of industrial gate use, especially as a...

Season 06 Episode 07 - We revisit the right to disconnect.

Trajce provokes conversation on the Fair Work Amendment (Right to Disconnect) Bill 2023 among the team again. Sara asks, “Why did we throw legislation at this? I want to know - how did they develop their problem statements? Is this legislation really hitting the mark? Are there system designs to protect workers versus needing to rely on legislation to advance these rights when the world of work has moved on from the 9 to 5pm, five day a week, patriarchal workplace?"

“Court is the last resort,” marvels Trajce, “But I th...

Season 06 Episode 06: Scope creep and Snag-arees

WARNING: This episode includes sexual inferences.

“The power of the beep is getting to Trajce’s head,” says Alan. “This is a very serious podcast,” Trajce protests.

The cause for the bleep is revealed: “Oh my gosh,” Sara says through laughter, “There is a ‘snag, drag, and bag’ phrase online describing people pulling fish out of the ocean, a ‘snag drag queen’,” she jeers, while exclaiming that, “This is a ‘snag-aree’!”

Trajce gets back to case law, telling a story about a newly-appointed receptionist at a UK law firm. He describes all th...

Season 06 Episode 05: I spy with my little eye

Sara introduces the topics of ‘design for crime’ and surveillance systems with predictive analytics generated by artificial intelligence. Alan speaks about his experiences with intelligent surveillance systems and their ability to see, feel, hear, and determine responses. Alan explains that business must establish their purpose and context when using video surveillance before consulting legal teams. “Bingo!” exclaims Sara, “Explain the design brief.”

Alan presents a work health and safety case in which the regulator charged a work health and safety manager for their alleged inadequate development of a work proce...

Season 06 Episode 04: A bonza boom & crash: Decommissioning with dignity

Trajce and Sara compliment Alan’s dress sense - smooth, Italian, Mafioso, modelled after a Kappa soccer sports brand, while Sara reflects on her ‘rugby mum’ look for the day. Trajce teases Sara with her unlaced shoes in contemporary gangsta-fashion, primed for larceny. “It’s a sport and leather vibe,” says Trajce.

Trajce contemplates the need to evaluate a design journey, going beyond the pointy end of an event with direct causational pathways. “A designer is a parent of consequences,” he declares. The crew focus on examples of deco...

WhyNOT? A Wisdom Shot: BONUS. Respectful workplaces contrast with those in which managers demand working to unrealistic standards. Trajce cautions, "Attitudes like this could be construed as belittling, bullying, and harassment."

For more on this topic, listen to S05 E11: German work.

Season 06 Trailer 06: An uppy or a downy - potty talk prep - WhaAAT? We've reached the lowest watermark - prelude.

WhyNOT? A Wisdom Shot: BONUS. Alan explains that work health and safety law penalties are deterrants. Often, executives and officers are not intentional criminals, and yet criminal law applies to breaches of workplace health and safety obligations. Alan elaborates, "It's extremely rare that an employer has wanted an employee to be injured or consciously thought about causing injury, but the penalties serve as deterrants and are thought to improve workplace practices across industry." For more on this topic, listen to: S05 E08: Smooth criminal: The sociology of industrial crime.

Season 06 Episode 03: Roger rabbit, reconciling responsibilities: Who’s job is it anyway?

WARNING: This episode discusses road safety fatal hazard exposures and construction failures.

“A cream bun goes a long way for you,” Alan teases Trajce when Trajce admits that he could never prosecute a baker.

Alan describes a work health and safety legal case when a football club grandstand roof collapsed during construction. The construction workers were fortunate to avoid significant injuries.

Sara regales a story about her drive home from her son’s rugby practice when a car sped past the...

Season 06 Trailer 05: A teaser about road construction discussions. WhyWork?

Warning - this trailer mentions fatal incidents.

Season 06 Trailer 04: A teaser on the exploration of the entertainment industry and issues of principal contractors managing subcontractors - it all blows up when there is a fatality.

Season 06 Trailer 03: Awww. Stay Louder... Flashback Season 05 E12: Awww. Stay Louder and moving on to the the bulls and the cows... Moooo...

Season 06 Episode 02: An uppy or a downy

WARNING: This episode includes discussion about the fatality of a child.

“Are you an ‘Uppy’ or a ‘Downy’?” asks Alan.

“We have reached the lowest watermark on the show here,” says Trajce

Alan is entertained by Sara’s social media post about universal in public facilities. “Are we living for design or are we designed for living?” queries Trajce.

“Exactly!” exclaims Sara, “Design shapes behaviours.”

Alan introduces the idea of prosecution of designers. Trajce pontificates on causational chains of responsibilities. Sara recalls a media-reported...

WhyNOT? A Wisdom Shot: BONUS: "What are your designing for? For what and for whom are you designing? What is your design objective?" Sara prompts, while Trajce expresses his frustration with workplace investigative approaches. He argues that workplace investigators clamour to use an on-trend investigative tool without understanding its scope, merits, or alignment with the industry and geographical jurisdiction. "If you're going to play cricket, make sure that you're on the cricket pitch, and not the football oval." he analogises.

Season 06 Trailer 02: We're back, we're going to bust it up, swimming upstream - tales of Mafia ties, crime & misconduct, bullying, the right to disconnect, complex investigations.

Season 06 Trailer: We're back, fresh from tour - welcome to the system.

WARNING: FATALITIES ARE DISCUSSED

WhyNOT? A Wisdom Shot: BONUS: Behind the laughing clowns. "Things can go awry," Trajce explains, "fun, risk, recreation, and entertainment... these are not often used in the same sentence, but they should. Behind the laughing clowns are serious items of fixed and mobile plant." The prosecutor in Trajce warns us all that recreational pursuits can have deadly consequences. For more on this topic, listen to: S02 E02: It's Hollywood and it's a gas, S02 E02: Reality TV and me, S03 E05: Whakaari - The smouldering dragon, S03 E06: Cha-cha-cha thrill rides, S03 E07...

WhyNOT? A Wisdom Shot: Bonus: Sara praises Trajce's use of empathy maps to dissect victim impact statements and case law. She's certain that her design-thinking arguments are influencing his work. Alan is a little confused and cannot stop giggling: it's a hoot for Owl-inn....

Warning: This episode discusses workplace fatalities and complex injuries

Season 06 Episode 01 is a special release extended episode, recorded live on stage at the Mechanical Engineering Safety Seminar 2024 sponsored by the New South Wales Resources Regulator (NSW MESS 2024).

The WhyWork Podcast rabble rousers, Alan Girle, Trajce Cvetkovski, and Sara Pazell wrestle with the idea of good design strategy in mining. “Section 22,” prompts Alan, referring to the Australian Work Health and Safety Act sections 22, 23, 24, 25(4) – “…give adequate information, including any conditions necessary to ensure safe use of the plant.” Sara seeks statements from members of the audience in this live re...

WARNING: SEXUAL HARASSMENT IS INFERRED

WhyNOT? A Wisdom Shot: Bonus: "The festive season is upon us," Alan cautions, "make sure that if you are shimmyin' on the dance floor, the person you're shimmyin' with wants to shimmy with you as much as you do!" This Wisdom Shot broaches the all-too-common and uncomfortable scenario of the mix of alcohol and workplace festive parties. For more on this topic, listen to past episodes: S05 E04: Office spirits: Culture & Controversy, S05 E05: Shimmyin' on the dance floor, S02 E07: 4 Men and Women 2: Nightstalker fright night, and S01 E01: Bubbles of...

Season 05 Bonus Episode 14

Risk versus reward, reliability versus resilience: Trajce, Alan, and Sara explore these tensions. Trajce wants to talk about investigations and the sex industry, while Sara and Alan poke at Trajce’s sensitivities to Harvard Business Law style jargon. Alan, however, also wants to talk about sex trades with a throwback to Season 05 Episode 13: Wiggle it, just a little bit. He distracts Sara when she advocates for studying success (in addition to failures and faults) and the need to communicate simply when it comes to workplace investigation findings. She expands on ideas about high-reliability organisation (HR...

Season 05 Episode 13 - We're getting jiggly.

Warning: Adult content and humour.

“We’ve got vibration, we’ve got noise, we’re getting jiggly here,” chimes Trajce. Sara describes the X, Y, Z axes of vibration measures. She tells a story of how she’s been attributed a certain type of ass-jiggling nick name.

Alan live-records his demonstration of simulated tractor operation trial while testing the Whole Body Vibration mobile phone application developed by Professor Robin Burgess Limerick of the University of Queensland Sustainable Minerals Institute. The crew recognise Margarita Mandic of the Sunshine Coast in thi...

WARNING – This episode presents content on workplace fatalities – listener discretion is advised.

With a word play on cosmetics branding, Trajce frames the scenario explained by Sara: A naturally curious 14 y/o, an electric display vehicle, a shopping centre, and the make up counter. “This is like a red bull, a caged beast,” Trajce makes the analogy, “An ‘Awww. Stay. Louder!’“ moment, much to Alan's pained laughter.

“No monkeying about,” leads Alan, as Sara describes another news story about work in the zoo when a worker gets caught inside the enclosure of a silver back gorilla, Elmo. Sara talks abo...

Season 05 Episode 11: German Work

Warning: This episode discusses Anti-Semitic work behaviours.

“Is ‘German work’ a standard of work?” Trajce asks as he recounts a story on a manager who berates his Aussie teams, “’You’re F’n stupid!’ “ the manager tells his staff.

Even mid-employment dispute, this manager showed no contrition. “He believed that he was forced to speak in this manner,” Trajce elaborates, “because the culture of work in Australia was far too lazy and lackadaisical for him.”

Sara shares a story of a New York firm with whom she was once associated. In this...

Season 05 Episode 10: Stubble stash and mug mats

To fit or not to fit?

This episode discusses a WhyWork Podcast subscriber’s concern on managing the scenario when a bearded worker must wear a mask for their health protections at work. “Get better equipment,” is not the easiest mandate in this complex situation, says Count van Count, aka Trajce. He is expressive while displaying his well-groomed goatee. Alan agrees, recounting reasons why some people find this an emotive issue: cultural, religious, or industrial events.

Sara confirms that Alan and Trajce often speak on the comple...

Season 05 Episode 09: A prism party and colour cascade

WARNING: This episode presents topics on workplace fatalities and suicide - Listener discretion is advised.

Sara announces the publication of a new book of which she is a co-editor, “Healthcare Insights: The voice of the consumer, the practitioner, and the work design strategist.” “The intent,” she explains, “is to empathise and to understand situations from many points of view. It’s like holding a crystal to the sky, and seeing different colours refract when you spin it around,” says Sara. Trace concurs, “Storytelling and narratives are prisms to view a differ...

Season 05 Episode 08: Smooth Criminal: The sociology of industrial crime

WARNING: This episode discusses fatalities in the workplace. Listener discretion is advised.

In this episode, Alan broaches the topic of industrial manslaughter by describing a case involving a forklift operation fatal incident in a stonemasonry company in New South Wales. This prompts Trajce to reflect on a case where a prosecuted employer ritualistically honoured the anniversary of the death of their worker by paying for an ode of remembrance in the bereavement section of the local newspaper to acknowledge how much the apprentice was...

Season 05 Episode 07: Trajce raises the issue of the Barnaby Bother. It was a Boisterous Barnaby Bumble… Alan explains the alcohol-infused ‘Barnaby bumble’: It made national news, all around Australia, and it was highly embarrassing to anyone involved. Trajce reminds the crew that Zahi Steggall, Member of Parliament New South Wales, SW MP, has implored, “We must do something about alcohol use in parliament.”

We cannot trivialise this. Yet, alcohol consumption is culturally indoctrinated in Australia. Trajce announces his publication on trivialisation of risk in the workplace. Alcohol-related activity is one of the 6 typologies found in Reality TV, a reflecti...

WhyWork Podcast subscriber Anna Linning asks, “How are different organisations managing the phenomena of digital and instant communication modes in their business - Teams, social media, intranets, and the like?” “Doctor, doctor, give me a call,” Alan chimes, reflecting on Anna’s work in an Australian occupational medical practice.

The team debate the Fair Work Amendment Bill 2023 on the right to disconnect because of the issue raised by Anna: the communication impact on mental and emotional load. “I’m finding major problems with this amendment,” scoffs Sara, “Have we returned to that Caucasian, male, privileged work convention?” Alan replies, “… thi...