Hello and welcome to season one of the Why Work podcast series.
Join Sarah Pazell, Alan Girle and Trajce Cvetkovski on a journey to explore the unusual,
but possible human experiences at work.
We examine the boundaries of work.
We look at the case law around just how far these boundaries have been pushed and will continue to be pushed.
We shake things up to encourage better design of work.
These are sometimes laughable and sometimes confronting situations,
but all nonetheless have serious implications.
All these scenarios, these vignettes, fact will always be stranger than fiction.
We don't need to make this stuff up.
It is real.
It's real because we are human and to be vulnerable.
And these cases demonstrate this is ordinary people doing,
punching in and punching out, going to work.
Nothing in fact that we've talked about over these series is so extraordinary.
So out of the box, no one's floating to space.
We're doing the people drinking champagne in spas,
going to work and bees flying around and getting stuck.
In season one of episode one, we kick off with bubbles of trouble.
Go on.
I'm sure you've all got stories about Christmas parties and work functions generally go awry.
I'm sure you've seen it all and now you hope to unsee what you've seen,
but in any event, we explore in episode one, bubbles of trouble,
blurred lines, drinking, nudity, gurgles,
and the assumptions that everyone in the team wants to party in the same way.
Listen to what happens when your work party devolves.
You just want what might be done to protect against such circumstances.
On that note, I want to talk about an interesting case involving doggies.
Dogs pet purchases have been on the rise throughout the pandemic.
Everybody's been buying pet air fryer and pets.
Yeah, look, I can say that indeed.
In episode two, we look at avatars, bees and sex.
Yes, episode two stirs up a hornet's nest
and discusses the busy, busy, busy, busy-ness of work, travel, sex, and bee stings.
And the avatars that we choose to represent ourselves in our workplace
is also thrown into the mix.
Injuries can occur in the most unusual ways.
Listen to this episode to learn about compensation pathways
when things go awry during work travel.
All when work from anywhere is the norm.
Episode three looks at pets and air fryers.
Yes, that's right, pets and air fryers.
Episode three examines the work from home phenomenon
and the ambiguity around what is permissible for home luxuries
and work requirements.
There are fleas all over it.
Indeed, we did buy an air fryer as a fancy, a twin turbo stop.
And we also adopted a rescue.
It was only $350, but the fence was $21,000.
Oh, it's connected though.
I love the air fryer.
I love it.
Stilettos, rock concerts and tales of the unexpected.
Episode four explores 'Volenti non fit injuria'.
Does your employer specify don't have rigourous sex while traveling for work?
Please do not wear stilettos or else you might risk a slip, trip and fall.
Are we alert or should we be alarmed from work parties, travel to rock concerts?
There's all these different channels to communicate with people, right?
And we were talking about having a little characterization of yourself.
And sometimes it can erode the boundaries
or people feel some sense of connection, intimacy with you.
Other times you might offend somebody.
Episode five takes us to the High Court decision in Kozarov
and the need for purpose.
Episode five challenges listeners to think about the highly confronting scenarios
like child pornography and abuse.
Thrive and survive.
Episode six discusses candor at work and how to be real.
We encourage employers to discuss the messy realities of work.
Candor is a two-way street and effective pathways are needed to discuss what's what
in a frank and open manner.
We encourage businesses to create scenarios to imagine while you simulate the realities of work
and we use this to launch quality candor conversations.
In doing so we invite listeners to design work for health wellness.
So we've had some interesting cases come out of Western Australia involving native wildlife.
So one case on a mine site where Dingoes would come into the mine site.
Design when we work from anywhere.
Episode seven is devoted to health in the built environment from the office space to the home space.
The air that I breathe.
The water that I drink.
How is this ensured in the home work environment?
What about the potential risk of exposure to domestic violence?
Listeners must consider whether they provide first aid of work or just encourage or engage
in better conversations workforce.
And Dingo's approached her.
She felt not overly unsafe.
She did leave the table but had a problem with her mobile phone.
But tried to shoot the Dingo away and then she was savaged by more than one Dingo.
It's horrible.
Yeah it is horrible but working environment can be anywhere and you can have all sorts of hazards
in that work environment.
There's another one from Western Australia where a surveyor went out.
Tired workers are deadly weapons.
Episode eight is a tragic road rage story.
We delve into the complexity of fatigue, shift work and high performance first just merely coping.
For overproductive workers it's a different set of issues.
We look at burnout.
Fatigue can seem invisible.
So how do we imagine the symptoms when we work anywhere?
Ultimately we ask are we designing for what we want and what we do not want.
Your first decision is going to be are you going to have alcohol or no alcohol?
And if you're going to have alcohol how much alcohol are you going to have?
And you need to have a very clear undeniable boundary when the party finishes.
Alright so I've got the song pink in my mind right now.
Let's get this party started.
You're saying we also need to say let's close the party doors.
Yes, yes.
But if you want to get the party started and you want to have a party that goes all night
then you have to accept that the robots are taking over in episode nine.
The rise and rise of technology.
We also talk about Tragedy's Tudor.
He's a Tudor of Pahuala.
You decide.
We look at hybrid dogs and hybrid work.
We have a bit of a laugh about all that in episode nine.
Most importantly in episode nine when we design good work it requires science, expertise, consultation.
We look at those fuzzy work boundaries.
Sarah proposes the role of a chief work design strategist as a must.
And we can listen to why Sarah thinks it's not just design.
It's not just desirable but essential that we have such persons at the workplace.
Because there are parties and these are various rights.
So let's say the let's now go back to work health and safety and the idea of others in the workplace.
Let's say so you have a third party, the stripper and he or she slips.
Who's responsible.
See, Alan, I think you're right about this putting a stop.
So what's the answer?
Well he should wear personal protective equipment.
Oh yes, yes.
PPE, of course.
True.
Well, it's all coming along.
It's all coming along.
Sorry, I think you need to acknowledge people at the time.
Construction work.
Look.
I was in a hotel in Las Vegas and they were...
We continue on our journey of design and we devote episode 10 to design strategy.
We love it.
We love design strategy.
We pursue the end game of good work design.
We continue on from where we left off.
We suggest that workplaces build, purchase, Sarah will prompt you to think about work design.
We might solve all the problems all the time but at least it'll minimize the likelihood of harm a lot of the time.
Now they look at the built environment typically in commercial spaces and how are you going to help regulate
the need for movement?
How are you going to help regulate the need for quality air flow and good water for example?
Nourishment, mind concepts, right?
So that you have places to regenerate and to have some relaxation.
You may have biophilia.
I'm not like you but that's okay.
So that's...
Trajan Allen, pro perceptions.
Their perceptions among workers and the impacts on workers in toxic workplaces.
Camera footage tells one story but it cannot reveal the ... vulnerabilities and the perceptions that arise around the toxic workplace.
Tracje and Allen unpacked the conflicts that can occur from judgement.
About mask wearing, listen to what we have to say about perceptions at the workplace.
Stay with the hybrid and distributed workforce models.
Sometimes working from home, sometimes working from anywhere.
And so there can be some standards around having health factors in a built environment in the home and employers can connect with that.
So that's .... WhyWork season one.
We continue on with friendship.
Why can't we be friends?
Episode 12 challenges cultural approaches to conflict.
That emotional experience is a reality and we are emotional beings.
We are emotional beings and we set about our emotions.
We set our emotions in motion in workplace law.
Allen reminds us that workers might not realise that they are triggering emotional responses.
Sensory processing, we'll look at that.
And all those sensory overloads that result in pain.
That built environment in this new development, so it's not retro, it's for new developments.
So the wide work podcast invites you to explore the unusual but possible human experience of work.
Join in, you'll like it.