I get this weekly newsletter (by email) from a workplace safety organization Down Under. I like the ASW (absolute shocker of the week) feature, which documents an outrageous safety violation reported to the org.
Anyway, I get the feeling that this national worker safety movement is pretty recent in the country. Am I right? And is this organization controversial in some circles, as is OSHA in the US?
Peace,
mangeorge
It’s not new - OH&S requirements have been around for decades, although from time to time there’s a campaign to tighten them up.
Which organisation are you talking about? Workcover? A union? Which one?
A bit of Googling makes me think he’s talking about Victorian’s WorkCover Authority, which issues by email a “Weekly Construction Safety Update”, including the Shocker of the Week.
The WorkCover authority in question is a state authority.
workcover You need to register to use the site, tho.
The weekly newsletter often mentions new requirements and certification, plus fines levied against companies for violations, so I guessed that maybe there was a new push for worker safety.
I know, from watching the game you folks (blokes) call football, that you’re not too worried about a few little injuries. 
Peace,
mangeorge
Workcover is a state authority (there’s one in each state, but they’re all semi-government authorities). They’re responsible for raising the profile of OH&S, enforcing OH&S regulation as well as administering the Workers’ Compensation scheme in their relevant state.
They’re hardly controversial, except when the 6:30 tabloid TV shows do a secret-camera expose about people rorting the compo system.
And I’m going to spare you a highjack by assuming that you mean real football (or its wimpier, but better-dressed private-school cousin) rather than Mexican Pussyball, which is played only by people more concerned with getting their shorts sprayed on correctly than by effecting a front-on contest or putting effort into tackles.
Yeah, I’m talking about footy.
I’ve only witnessed (apt term) the massacre a couple of times on the telly. There was a brute some years back who made commercials for a (I think) battery company. He was replaced by a bunny.
Sheesh! Does Workcover know about this, er, game? these guys bleed.
That’s “Rules” - a game generally played in Victoria and by other states which don’t know any better. In the more civilised states, its popularity is generally confined to the arthritic, infirm and somewhat effeminate.
Football, also known as Rugby League, is the game played by the more technologically advanced parts of the country, and is generally considered a game far more suited to heterosexual men who aren’t threatened by a Samoan who likes to shove his index finger up their clacker.
That would be Mark “Jacko” Jackson. I believe he had a brief stint as a celebrity in Victoria. They’re pretty light on for entertainment down there. Except I think he worked for Energizer - whose mascot is a talking battery. The pink rabbits shill for Duracell.
Spare the hijack much there BigNik, ya bloody wanker? 
Anyway, it’s apparent that you’re just an ignorant northerner, who doesn’t have enough braincells to appreciate the finer nuances of Aussie Rules. We’ll edumacate youse eventually.
“Nuance” - is that the reason that you start the game, not by a “kickoff” (which is how football matches are started) but by an “aerial slapfight”? Or is it the reason that even if you can’t kick straight, you get a point for trying?
How can you possibly denigrate a game that has produced such stellar examples of sheer gentlemanship as Gary Ablett, Wayne Carey and the entire Collingwood Cheer Squad?
It must be sour grapes.
If VFL players were secure in their masculinity, why are they all sooky whenever someone starts talking about Bali? They should be out doing manly, heterosexual things.
Like pack rape. Or making jokes about pack rape. Or refusing to co-operate with police enquiries into the odd spot of pack rape. That sort of thing.
BigNik, I was happy to take the piss before, but I fear you might have stepped over some ill-defined boundary here. I’m not about to make any quips about the current scandal confronting the NRL. That’s up to the courts and the tribunals to decide.
But if you want to debate the relative merits of Aussie Rules Vs Thugby, I’ll be in, no worries mate.
As one who also appreciates that Rugby League is the real footy and also the most physically demanding team sport in the world, I have to confess that I am jealous of the AFL administration. For the pre season cup they introduced new rules that made the game more exciting and faster, the NRL introduced a rule that is entirely subjective in interpretation (like all crap rules) and will cause lots of punter angst.