WhyWork Podcast

WhyWork Podcast

by Alan Girle, Trajce Cvetkovski, & Sara Pazell

Management Social Sciences

Season 8

S08 E02: Christmas Day Code Blue: A Tassie healthcare system wake-up call

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 Christmas Day, this high-achieving healthcare provider died of a heart attack. His wife sought justice from the hospital that demanded so much of him, but the hospital wanted none of the blame. Sara wrestles with ideas about contributing factors: organisational, interpersonal, intrapersonal, lifestyle patterns, and biological factors – Trajce responds excitedly “Oooh, your analysis is prescient.” Sara further provokes, “Did he say the ‘S-word?’” Alan responds, “this is harder for older workers to do,” and Trajce agrees, ‘yes – use the S-word – S-T-R-E-S-S.” Listen to this episode as the WhyWork team debate interacting risk factors and dissect those that relate to the workplace. Check out more on healthcare industry tales in this novel book, Healthcare Insights: The Voice of the Consumer, the Provider, and the Work Design Strategist.

S08 E01: Flora, Fauna, and the ‘Port-a-Loo’: Beware the arachnids

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 the things we don’t write down in procedures: the folklore, the warnings passed in whispers, and the rituals we perform before doing the ordinary. It's about vigilance. About humour. About how experience embeds itself amidst bodily functions. We talk about the risks we manage and the ones we normalise. What does it mean when danger becomes part of the dunny?

S08 Bonus: WhyNOT? A Wisdom Shot: Creating Joyful Paths

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.

S08 Trailer 06: Profiling workers: Who is most at risk?

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.

S08 Bonus: WhyNOT? A Wisdom Shot: Work, rest, and play

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 the Pilates socks - its our 'Right to Disconnect' time!

S08 Trailer 05: The feasibiilty and foreseeability of becoming a croc sandwich for a day

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.

S08 Trailer 04: Stress, and more stress

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...

S08 Bonus: WhyNOT? A Wisdom Shot: Botty Botch Botox

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!).

S08 Trailer 03: Health or... harm?

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.

S08 Trailer 02: Secret handshakes

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.

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