Well, that was a hard month on us all. Poor Benny. She kept up the best she could, and me and Tom tried to keep things cheerful there at the house. But it kind of went for nothing, as you may say. It was the same up at the jail. We went up every day to see the old people, but it was awful dreary, because the old man weren't sleeping much, and was walking in his sleep considerable, and so he got to looking fagged and miserable, and his mind got shaky, and we all got afraid his troubles would break him down and kill him. And whenever we tried to persuade him to feel cheerfuler, he only shook his head and said, if we only knowed what it was to carry around a murderer's load in your heart we wouldn't talk that way. Tom and all of us kept telling him it wasn't murder, but just accidental killing. But it never made any difference. It was murder, and he wouldn't have it any other way. He actively begun to come out plain and square towards trial time, and acknowledged that he tried to kill the man. Why, that was awful, you know. It made things seem fifty times as dreadful, and there weren't no more comfort for Aunt Sally and Benny, but he promised he wouldn't say a word about his murder when others was around, and we was glad of that. Tom Sawyer racked the head off of himself all that month trying to plan some way out for Uncle Silas, and many's the night he kept me up most all night with this kind of tiresome work, but he couldn't seem to get on the right track no way. As for me, I reckoned a body might as well give it up. It all looked so blue, and I was so downhearted. But he wouldn't. He stuck to the business right along, and went on planning and thinking and ransacking his head. So at last the trial came on, towards the middle of October, and we was all in the court. The place was jammed, of course. Poor old Uncle Silas. He looked more like a dead person than a live one. His eyes were so hollow, and he looked so thin and so mournful. Benny, she sat on one side of him and Aunt Sally on the other, and they had veils on, and was full of trouble. But Tom, he sat by our lawyer, and had his finger in everywheres, of course. The lawyer let him, and the judge let him. He most took the business out of the lawyer's hands sometimes, which was well enough, because that was only a mud turtle of a back-settlement lawyer, and didn't know enough to come in when it rains, as the saying is. They swore in the jury, and then the lawyer for the prostitution got up and begun. He made a terrible speech against the old man that made him moan and groan, and made Benny and Aunt Sally cry.  It was so different from the old man's tale. He said he was going to prove that Uncle Silas was seen to kill Jupiter Dunlap by two good witnesses, and done it deliberate, and said he was going to kill him the very minute he hit him with the club, and they seen him hide Jupiter in the bushes, and they seen that Jupiter was stone dead, and said Uncle Silas come later and lug Jupiter down into the tobacco field, and two men seen him do it, and said Uncle Silas turned out away in the night, and buried Jupiter, and a man seen him at it. I says to myself, poor old Uncle Silas has been lying about it because he reckoned nobody seen him, and he couldn't bear to break Aunt Sally's heart and Benny's. And right he was. As for me, I would lie the same way, and so would anybody that had any feeling to save them such misery and sorrow which they weren't no ways responsible for. Well, it made our lawyer look pretty sick, and it knocked Tom silly, too, for a little spell. But then he braced up and let on that he weren't worried, but I knowed he was all the same, and the people, my, but it made a stir amongst them. And when that lawyer was done telling the jury what he was going to prove, he sat down and begun to work his witnesses. First he called a lot of them to show that there was bad blood betwixt Uncle Silas and the disease, and they told how they had heard Uncle Silas threaten the disease at one time and another, and how it got worse and worse, and everybody was talking about it, and how disease got afraid of his life, and told two or three of them he was certain Uncle Silas would up and kill him some time or another. Tom and our lawyer asked them some questions, but it weren't no use. They stuck to what they said. Next they called up Lem Bebe, and he took the stand. It come into my mind then how Lem and Jim Lane had come along talking that time about borrowing a dog or something from Jupiter Dunlap, and that brought up the Blackberries and the Lantern, and that brought up Bill and Jack Withers and how they passed by talking about a nigger stealing Uncle Silas' corn, and that fetched up our old ghost that come along about the same time and scared us so, and here he was, too, and a privileged character on accounts of his being deep and dumb and a stranger, and they had fixed him a chair inside the railing where he could cross his legs and be comfortable whilst the other people was all in a jam so they couldn't hardly breathe. So it all come back to me just the way it was that day, and it made me mournful to think how pleasant it was up to then, and how miserable ever since. Lem Bebe, sworn, said, I was coming along that day, 2 September, and Jim Lane was with me, and it was toward sundown, and we heard loud talk, like quarreling, and we was very close, only the hazel bushes between, that's along the fence, and we heard a voice say, I told you, mourn once I'd kill you, and note it was this prisoner's voice, and then we see a club come up above the bushes and down out of sight again, and heard a smashing thump, and then a groan or two, and then we croaked soft to where we could see, and there lay Jupiter Dunlap dead, and this prisoner standing over him with the club, and then the next he hauled the dead man into a clump of bushes and hit him, and then we stooped low to be cut of sight, and then got away. Well, it was awful. It kind of froze everybody's blood to hear it, and the house was most as still whilst he was telling it as if there weren't nobody in it, and when he was done you could hear them gasp and sigh all over the house, and look at one another the same as to say he did perfectly terrible, he did awful. Now happened a thing that astonished me. All the time the first witnesses was proving the bad blood and the threats and all that, Tom Sawyer was alive and laying for them, and the minute they was through he went for them, and done his level best to catch them in lies and spy their testimony, but now how different. When Lem first began to talk and never said anything about speaking to Jupiter or trying to borrow a dog off of him, he was all alive and laying for Lem, and you could see he was getting ready to cross-question him to death pretty soon, and then I judged him and me would go on to stand by and by and tell what we heard him and Jim Lane say, but the next time I looked at Tom I got the cold shivers. Why, he was in the brownest study you ever see, miles and miles away. He weren't hearing a word Lem Bebe was saying, and when he got through he was still in that brown study just the same. Our lawyer joggled him and then he looked up startled and says, take the witness if you want him, let me alone, I want to think. Well, that beat me. I couldn't understand it, and Benny and her mother, they looked sick, they were so troubled. They shoved their veils to one side and tried to get his eye, but it weren't any use, and I couldn't get his eye either. So the mud turtle he tackled the witness, but it didn't amount to nothing, and he made a mess of it. Then they called up Jim Lane, and he told the very same story over again exact. Tom never listened to this one at all, but sat there thinking and thinking miles and miles away. So the mud turtle went in alone again and came out just as flat as he done before. The lawyer for the prostitution looked very comfortable, but the judge looked disgusted. You see, Tom was just the same as a regular lawyer nearly, because it was Arkansas law for a prisoner to choose anybody he wanted to help his lawyer, and Tom had had Uncle Silas shove him into the case, and now he was botching it, and you could see the judge didn't like it much. All that the mud turtle got out of them, and Jim was this. He asked them, Why didn't you go and tell what you saw? We was afraid we would get mixed up in it ourselves, and we was just starting down the river hunting for all the weak besides, but as soon as we come back we found out they'd been searching for the body. So then we went and told Brace Dunlap all about it. When was that? Saturday night, September 9th? The judge he spoke up and says, Mr. Sheriff, arrest these two witnesses on suspicions of being accessionary after the fact of the murder. The lawyer for the prostitution jumps up all excited and says, Your Honor, I protest against this extraordinary—sit down, says the judge, pulling his bowie and laying it on his pulpit. I beg you to respect the court. So he done it. Then he called Bill Withers.  Couldn't see distinct. Next we made out that it was one man carrying another, and the way it hung so kind of a limp, we judged it was somebody that was drunk, and by the man's walk we said it was Parsons Silas, and we judged he had found Sam Cooper drunk in the road, which he was always trying to reform him, and was toting him out of danger. He made the people shiver to think of poor old Uncle Silas toting off the disease down to the place in his tobacco field where the dog dug up the body, but there weren't much sympathy around amongst the faces, and I heard one cuss say, There's the coldest blooded work I ever struck, lugging a murdered man around like that, and going to bury him like an animal and him a preacher at that. Tom, he went on thinking and never took no notice, so our lawyer took the witness and done the best he could, and it was plenty poor enough. Then Jack Withers, he come on the stand and told the same tale just like Bill done, and after him comes Brace Dunlop, and he was looking very mournful and most crying, and there was a rustle and a stir all around, and everybody got ready to listen, and lots of the women folks said, Poor Critter, Poor Critter, and you could see many of them wiping their eyes. Brace Dunlop swore and said, I was in considerable trouble a long time about my poor brother, but I reckon things weren't here so bad as he made out, and I couldn't make myself believe anybody would have the heart to hurt a poor harmless Critter like that. By jings I was sure I seen Tom give that kind of a faint little start, and then look disappointed again, and, you know, I couldn't think a preacher would hurt him. It weren't natural to think such an unlikeless thing, so I never paid much attention, and now I would never ever forgive myself, for if I had done it different, my poor brother would be with me this day and not lie in yonder murdered, and him so harmless. He kind of broke down there and choked up, and waited to get his voice, and people all around said the most pitiful things, and women cried, and it was very still in there, and solemn, and old Uncle Silas, poor thing, he had grown right out so everybody heard him. Then Brace he went on. Saturday, September 2nd, he didn't come home to supper, and by and by I got a little uneasy, and one of my niggers went over to this prisoner's place, but come back and said he weren't there, so I got uneasier and uneasier, and couldn't rest. I went to bed, but I couldn't sleep, and turned out, away late in the night, and went wandering over to this prisoner's place, and all around about there a good while, hoping I wouldn't run across my poor brother, and never knowing he was out of his troubles and gone to a better shore. So he broke down and choked up again, and most all the women was crying now. Pretty soon he got another start and says, but there weren't no use, so at last I went home and tried to get some sleep, but couldn't. Well, in a day or two everybody was uneasy, and they got to talking about this prisoner's threats, and took to the idea, which I didn't take no stock in, that my brother was murdered, so they hunted around and tried to find his body, but couldn't, and give it up. And so I reckoned he was gone off summers to have a little peace, and would come back to us when his troubles was kind of healed. But late Saturday night, the ninth, Lem Bebe and Jim Lane come to my house and told me all the whole awful assassination, and my heart was broke. And then I remembered something that hadn't took no hold of me at that time, because reports said this prisoner had taken to walken in his sleep and doing all kinds of things of no consequence, not knowing what he was about. I will tell you what that thing was that come back into my memory. Away late that awful Saturday night when I was wandering around about this prisoner's place, grieving and troubled, I was down by the corner of the tobacco field, and I heard a sound like digging in a gritty soil, and I croaked nearer and peeped through the vines that hung on the rail fence, and seen this prisoner shoveling, shoveling with a long-handled shovel, heaving earth into a big hole that was most filled up.   By Jackson it petrified them. People rose up wild all over the house, straining and staring for a better look at him, and the judge was hammering with a mallet and a sheriff yelling, order, order in the court, order! And all the while the old man stood there, equaking in his eyes a-burning, and not looking at his wife and daughter, which was clinging to him and begging him to keep still, but pawing them off with his hands and saying he would clear his black soul from crime, he would heave off this load that was more than he could bear, and he wouldn't bear it another hour, and then he raged right along with his awful tale, everybody is staring and gasping, judge, jury, lawyers, and everybody, and Benny and Aunt Sally crying their hearts out, and by George Tom Sawyer never looked at him once, never once, just sat there gazing with all his eyes at something else I couldn't tell what, and so the old man raged right along, boring his words out like a fire, I killed him, I am guilty, but I never had the notion in my life to hurt him or harm him, spite of all them lies about my threatening him, till the very minute I raised the club, then my heart went cold, then the pity all went out of it, and I struck to kill, in that one moment all my wrongs come into my mind, all the insults that that man and the scoundrel his brother there had put upon me, and how they laid in together to ruin me with the people, and take away my good name, and drive me to some deed that would destroy me and my family that hadn't ever done them no harm so help me God, and they'd done it in a mean revenge, for why? Because my innocent, pure girl here at my side wouldn't marry that rich, insolent, ignorant, towered, braced Dunlap who's been sniveling here over a brother he never cared a brace farling for.  In one second I was miserably sorry, oh, filled with remorse, but I thought of my poor family, and I must hide what I had done for their sakes, and I did hide that corpse in the bushes, and presently I carried it to the tobacco field, and in the deep night I went with my shovel and buried it where up jumps Tom and shouts, now I've got it, and waves his hand, oh, ever so fine and starchy towards the old man and says, sit down! A murder was done, but you never had no hand in it. Well, sir, you could hurt a pin drop, and the old man he sunk down kind of bewildered in his seat, and Aunt Sally and Benny didn't know it, because they were so astonished and staring at Tom with their mouths open and not knowing what they was about, and the whole house the same. I never seen people look so helpless and tangled up, and I hadn't ever seen eyes bug out and gaze without a blink the way there and did. Tom says, perfectly calm, you're right, may I speak? For goodness sakes, yes, go on! says the judge so astonished and mixed up he didn't know what he was about hardly. Then Tom he stood there and waited a second or two. That was to work up an effect, as he calls it. Then he started in just as calm as ever and says, for about two weeks now there's been a little bill sticking on the front of this courthouse offering two thousand dollars' reward for a couple of big diamonds stole at St. Louis. Them diamonds is worth twelve thousand dollars, but never mind about that till I get to it.  You could see everybody nestle down and begin to listen for all they was worth. This man here, Brace Dunlap, that's been sniveling so about his dead brother that you know he never cared a straw for, wanted to marry that young girl there, and she wouldn't have him. So he told Uncle Silas he would make him sorry. Uncle Silas knowed how powerful he was and how little chance he had against such a man, and he was scared and worried, and done everything he could think of to smooth him over and get him to be good to him. And he even took his no-account brother, Jupiter, on the farm, and give him wages and stinted his own family to pay them, and Jupiter done everything his brother could contrive to insult Uncle Silas, and fret and worry him, and try to drive Uncle Silas into doing him a hurt, so as to injure Uncle Silas with the people. And it done it. Everybody turned against him and said the meanest kind of things about him, and it gradually broke his heart. Yes, and he was so worried and distressed that often he weren't hardly in his right mind. Well, on that Saturday that we've had so much trouble about, two of these witnesses here, Lembebe and Jim Lane, come along by where Uncle Silas and Jupiter and Dunlap was at work. And that much of what they said is true. The rest is lies. They didn't hear Uncle Silas say he would kill Jupiter. They didn't hear no blows struck. They didn't see no dead man. And they didn't see Uncle Silas hide anything in the bushes. Look at them now how they set their wishing they hadn't been so handy with their tongues. Anyway, they'll wish it before I get done. That Saturday evening Bill and Jack Withers did see one man lugging off another one. That much of what they said is true. And the rest is lies.  You notice it makes them look silly now to find out somebody overheard them say that. That's because they found out by and by who it was that was doing the lugging. And they know best why they swore here that they took it for Uncle Silas by the gate, which it wasn't, and they noted when they swore to that lie. A man out in the moonlight did see a murdered person put underground in the tobacco field, but it wasn't Uncle Silas that done the burying. He was in his bed at that very time. Now then, before I go on I want to ask you if you've ever noticed this. That people when they're thinking deep or when they're worried are most always doing something with their hands, and they don't know it. And don't notice what it is their hands are doing.  That's my way. When I'm restless or worried or thinking hard, I draw capital V's on my cheek or on my underlip or under my chin, and never anything but capital V's. And half the time I don't notice it and don't know I'm doing it. That was odd. That is just what I do. Only I make an O. And I could see people nodding to one another, same as they do when they mean that's so. Now then, I'll go on. That same Saturday—no, it was the night before—there was a steamboat laying at Flagler's Landing, forty miles above here, and it was raining and storming like the nation. And there was a thief aboard, and he had them two big diamonds that's advertised out here on this courthouse door, and he slipped ashore with his handbag and struck out into the dark in the storm, and he was hoping he could get to this town all right and be safe. But he had two pals aboard the boat, hiding, and he knew they was going to kill him the first chance they got and take the diamonds, because all three stole them, and then this fellow he got ahold of them and skipped. Well, he hadn't been gone more than ten minutes before his pals found it out, and they jumped ashore and lit out after him. Probably they burnt matches and found his tracks. Anyway, they dogged along after him all day Saturday and kept out of his sight, and toward sundown he'd come to the bunch of sycamores down by Uncle Silas's field, and he went in there to get a disguise out of his handbag and put it on before he showed himself here in the town.  But the minute the pals see that thief slide into the bunch of sycamores, they jumped out of the bushes and slid in after him. They fell on him and clubbed him to death. Yes, for all he screamed and howled so, they never had no mercy on him but clubbed him to death. And two men that was running along the road heard him yelling that way, and they made a rush into the sycamore bunch, which was where they was bound for, anyway, and when the pals saw them, they lit out in the two men after them and chasing them as tight as they could go, but only a minute or two, then these two new men slipped back very quiet into the sycamores. Then what did they do? I will tell you what they'd done. They found where the thief had got his disguise out of his carpet sock to put on, so one of them strips and puts on that disguise. Tom waited a little here for some more effect, then he says, very deliberate, the man that put on that dead man's disguise was Jupiter Dunlap. Great! God! Everybody shouted all over the house. An old Uncle Silas, he looked perfectly astonished. Yes, it was Jupiter Dunlap. Not dad, you see. Then they pulled off the dead man's boots and put Jupiter Dunlap's old ragged shoes on the corpse, and put the corpse's boots on Jupiter Dunlap. Then Jupiter Dunlap stayed where he was, and the other man lugged the dead body off in the twilight, and after midnight he went to Uncle Silas's house and took his old green work robe off the peg where it always hangs in the passage, betweeks the house and the kitchen, and put it on, and stole the long handled shovel, and went off down into the tobacco field, and buried that murdered man. He stopped, and stood half a minute. Then, and who do you reckon the murdered man was? It was Jake Dunlap, the long lost burglar. Great! God! And the man that buried him was Brace Dunlap, his brother. Great! God!  It's Jupiter Dunlap. My land, they all busted out in a howl, and you never see the like of that excitement since the day you was born.  And Aunt Sally and Benny, they went to hugging, and crying, and kissing, and smothering old Uncle Silas, to that degree he was more muddled, and confused, and mushed up in his mind than he ever was before, and that is saying considerable. And next people began to yell, Tom Sawyer! Tom Sawyer!  Go on, Tom Sawyer! Which made him feel uncommon bully, for it was nuts for Tom Sawyer to be a public character that way, and a hero, as he calls it. So when it was all quiet he says, there ain't much left only this. When that man there, Brace Dunlap, had most worried the life and sense out of Uncle Silas till at last he plumbed lost his mind and hit this other blather-skite, his brother, with a club. I reckon he seen his chance. Jupiter broke for the woods to hide, and I reckon the game was for him to slide out in the night and leave the country. Then Brace would make everybody believe Uncle Silas killed him and hid his body summers, and that would ruin Uncle Silas and drive him out of the country. Hang him, maybe. I don't know. But when they found their dead brother in the sycamores without knowing him, because he was so battered up, they see they had a better thing. Disguise both and bury Jake and dig him up presently all dressed up in Jupiter's clothes, and hire Jim Lane and Bill Withers and the others to swear some handy lies which they done. And there they set now, and I told them they would be looking sick before I got done, and that is the way they're looking now. Well, me and Huck Finn here, we come down on the boat with the thieves, and the dead one told us all about the diamonds and said the others would murder him if they got the chance, and we was going to help him all we could. We was bound for the sycamores when we heard them killing him in there, but we was in there in the early morning after the storm and the loud nobody hadn't been killed after all. And when we see Jupiter Dunlap here spreading around in the very same disguise Jake told us he was going to wear, we thought it was Jake his own self. And he was goo-gooing defundum, and that was according to agreement. Well, me and Huck went on hunting for the corpse after the others quit, and we found it, and was proud too.  So we was mighty sorry we found the body, and was bound to save Uncle Silas's neck if we could, and it was going to be tough work, too, because he wouldn't let us break him out of prison the way we'd done with our old nigger gym. I'd done everything I could the whole month to think up some way to save Uncle Silas, but I couldn't strike a thing. So when we come into court today I come empty, and couldn't see no chance anywheres. But by and by I had a glimpse of something that set me thinking, just a little wee glimpse. Only that, and not enough to make sure, but it set me thinking hard and watching when I was only letting on to think.  I knowed him by a thing which I seen him do, and I remembered it. I'd seen him do it when I was here a year ago. He stopped then, and studied him in it, laying for an effect. I knowed it perfectly well.  Well, I believe that is all. Why, you never heard such a howl. And it come from the whole house. What was it you seen him do?  You think you were going to work a body up till his mouth's a watering and stop there? What was it he done? That was it, you see. He'd just done it to get an effect. You couldn't have pulled him off that platform with a yoke of oxen. Oh, it wasn't anything much, he says. I seen him looking a little excited when he found Uncle Silas was actually fixing to hang himself for a murder that weren't ever done, and he got more and more nervous and worried. I, watching him sharp but not seeming to look at him, and all of a sudden his hands began to work and fidget, and pretty soon his left crept up, and his finger draw'd across on his cheek, and then I had him. Well, then they ripped and howled and stomped and clamped their hands till Tom Sawyer was that proud and happy he didn't know what to do with himself. And then the judge, he looked down over his pulpit and says, my boy, did you see all the various details of this strange conspiracy and tragedy that you've been describing? No, Your Honor, I didn't see any of them. Didn't see any of them. Why, you've told the whole history straight through just the same as if you'd seen it with your eyes. How did you manage that? Tom says kind of easy and uncomfortable. Oh, just noticing the evidence and piecing this and that together, Your Honor. Just an ordinary little bit of detective work. Anybody could have done it. Nothing of the kind. Not two and a million could have done it.  Then they let go and give Tom another smashing round and he, well, he wouldn't have sold out for a silver mine. Then the judge says, but are you certain you've got this curious history straight? Perfectly, Your Honor. Here is Brace Dunlop. Let him deny his share of it if he wants to take the chance. I'll engage to make him wish he hadn't said anything. Well, you see, he's pretty quiet, and his brother's pretty quiet. And then four witnesses that lied so and got paid for it. They're pretty quiet. And as for Uncle Silas, it ain't any use for him to put in his oar. I wouldn't believe him under oath. Well, sir, that fairly made them shout. And even the judge, he let go and laughed. Tom, he was just feeling like a rainbow. When they was done laughing, he looks up at the judge and says, Your Honor, there's a thief in this house. A thief? Yes, sir. And he's got them twelve thousand dollar diamonds on him. By gracious, but it made us stir. Everybody went shouting, Which is him? Which is him? Porn him out! And the judge says, Porn him out, my lad. Sheriff, you will arrest him. Which one is it? Tom says, This late dead man here, Jupiter Dunlop. Then there was another thundering let-go of astonishment and excitement. But Jupiter, which was astonished enough before, was just fairly putrefied with astonishment this time. And he spoke up about half-crying and says, No, that's a lie. Your Honor, it ain't fire. I'm plenty bad enough without that. I'd done the other things. Brace, he put me up to it, and persuaded me, and promised he'd make me rich some day, and I'd done it, and I'm sorry I'd done it. And I wished I hadn't.  I wished I may never stir if it ain't so. The sheriff can search me and see. Tom says, Your Honor, it wasn't right to call him a thief, and I'll let up on that a little. He did steal the diamonds, but he didn't know it. He stole them from his brother Jake when he was laying dead after Jake had stole them from the other thieves. But Jupiter didn't know he was stealing them, and he's been swelling around here with them a month. Yes, sir, twelve thousand dollars worth of diamonds on him, all that riches, and going around here every day just like a poor man. Yes, Your Honor, he's got them on him now. The judge spoke up and says, Search him, Sheriff. Well, sir, the sheriff he ransacked him high and low and everywhere, searched his hat, socks, seams, boots, everything, and Tom, he stood there quiet, laying for another of them effects of his, and finally the sheriff he'd give it up, and everybody looked disappointed, and Jupiter says, They are now what I tell you. And the judge says, It appears you were mistaken this time, my bar. Then Tom took an attitude and led on to be studying with all his might and scratching his head. Then all of a sudden he glanced up chipper and says, Oh! Now I've got it. I'd forgot. Which was a lie, and I noted. Then he says, Will somebody be good enough to lend me a little small screwdriver? There was one in your brother's handbag that you smooched, Jupiter, but I reckon you didn't fetch it with you. No, I didn't. I didn't want it, and I'd give it away. That's because you didn't know what it was for. Jupiter had his boots on again by now, and when the thing Tom wanted was passed over the people's heads till it got to him, he says to Jupiter, Put up your boot on this chair. And he kneeled down and begun to unscrew the heel plate, everybody watching. And when he got that big diamond out of that boot heel, and held it up and let it flash and blaze and squirt sunlight every which way, it just took everybody's breath. And Jupiter, he looked so sick and sorry you never see the lack of it. And when Tom held up the other diamond he looked sorryer than ever. Land! He was thinking how he would have skipped out and been rich and independent in a foreign country if he'd only had the luck to guess what the screwdriver was in the carpet bag for. Well, it was the most exciting time to take it all around, and Tom got cords of glory. The judge took the diamonds and stood up in his pulpit and cleared his throat and shoved his spectacles back on his head and says, I'll keep them and notify the owners. And when they send for them, it will be a real pleasure to me to hand you the two thousand dollars for you've earned the money. Yes, and you've earned the deepest and most sincere thanks of this community besides for lifting a wronged and innocent family out of ruin and shame and saving a good and honorable man from a felon's death, and for exposing to infamy and the punishment of the law a cruel and odious scoundrel and his miserable creatures. Well, sir, if there's been a brass band to bust out some music then it would have been just the perfectest thing I ever see. And Tom saw he said the same. Then the sheriff he nabbed Brace Dunlop in his crowd and by and by next month the judge had them up for trial and jailed a whole lot and everybody crowded back to Uncle Silas's little old church and was ever so loving and kind to him and the family and couldn't do enough for them.  But the people never let on but they thought it was the clearest and brightest and elegantest sermons that ever was and they would sit there and cry for love and pity.  But by and by they loved the old man's intellects back into him again and he was as sound in his skull as he ever was which ain't no flattery I reckon. And so the whole family was as happy as birds and nobody could be gratefuler and lovinger than what they was to Tom Sawyer and the same to me though I hadn't done nothing and when the two thousand dollars come Tom give half of it to me and never told anybody so which didn't surprise me because I knowed him. End of Chapter 11. And end of Tom Sawyer Detective.


No, no, no, no, no, no, no. This is a story about friendships. This is a story about dating. This is a story about lying. Even the doughnuts were a supporting character. You had so many people. Keep watching to find out what book I'm talking about today. I'm Kyla Denigno. So today we are talking about the book, The Woman in the Library. This book was written by Celar Agentil. The genre of the book is fiction. The theme of the book is mystery, okay? So I am back on my mystery book kick, which isn't really a kick, right? I read everything. I read rom-com. I read non-fiction. I'm read comedy as... So one of the most important things in this book to me is the background conversation of two writers just sharing notes and sharing stories with each other, okay? So I'm not gonna give away the whole book but there are people, they're in the library, there's a woman there, okay? The Woman in the Library. That's what the book is called. But this is a story about writers. I really enjoy reading about writers and you get to see them go through their process of writing the book, character development, how they plot out stories. And the reason why it's so important that we get to see the interaction between the two writers is because at the end of the book, the last page, we find out who Leo is. Leo has been writing back and forth with Hannah throughout the whole book. And then when you find out who Leo is, you're just like, what? But it all ties back to the woman in the library. Like, Salari Gentile, chef's kiss because the writing was brilliant, okay? So even as I was outlining the book review to do this video for you today, I found out that Salari Gentile was a lawyer. So that makes sense to me because my appreciation for her, of course, is even heightened because she's a lawyer but also the pen pal aspect, the writers going back and forth really added another layer to the story. But this book, I could not put it down. I burned through it in a weekend. You've got Kane, you got Abel, Caroline, Hannah, Leo, Whit, Marigold, the mom, all of these people, right? Even the donuts were a supporting character. You had so many people. Don't worry, I didn't give you the whole plot. There's so much stuff there. I gave you a good running list of all the characters but there's still more, okay? There's so much more that I couldn't even discuss. But if you are looking for a book that you cannot put down, that is this book, literally, from the first page as you're reading the letter and you're like, what's this about? And then, oh, it's so good. And I will see you next time on Kyla's Reading Day. Bye.


Today is the third annual Sheikah Fatima Lectureship. It is going to really focus on what is our shared vision moving forward. We need to begin making sure women count as we understand war, as we understand security, and certainly as we understand peace-building. It is my great pleasure to welcome everybody here to the U.S. Institute of Peace for the third lectureship on a shared global vision for women in peace-building. It was through the generosity of Her Highness Sheikah Fatima that the Institute of Peace was able to name the North Atrium of our headquarters building the International Women's Commons, specifically to advance the progress of women as peace-builders. It is such a pleasure to be back here for the Sheikah Fatima Lecture Series, something I have come to look forward to over the last several years. But I especially want to welcome Her Excellency Reem Hashimi, who is thrilling to have you here. Thank you very much for having me. So what do we know about women in the peace process? We know that women are essential because they bring the societal aspects to a conflict zone. We know that when it comes to rebuilding communities, local women are more important than career advisers who are merely helicoptered in to help negotiate a solution. And we know that the U.N. recognizes facts some 15 years ago via Security Council Resolution 1325. And since that time, funding to support women, peace and security has been growing, as has awareness of the crucial need to incorporate or mainstream gender and conflict prevention and peace-building efforts. We are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the UN Fourth World Conference on Women that took place in Beijing. There has been a lot of assessment going on just in terms of what progress have we made, and we have indeed made genuine progress. But we also have a long way to go. When you talk about advancing the role of women, you don't do it because, you know, it's nice. You do it because you need it, because if you want to advance in your society, you have to. We know that when you have accountable, effective, inclusive governments, that they are better able to manage conflict that will inevitably occur. That requires that there be significant advances on bringing women into all levels of building and sustaining peace. We have to be really an integrated, engaged and forward-thinking world. I'm very optimistic that women and men engaged in peace-building will be an integrated process. Like every nation on Earth, we know there is still a distance to travel. But as you can see, we are proudly and confidently and endlessly making up that distance. We need to stick together, not just as women, but men as well. We must ensure that tomorrow's generation learns by this example to work alongside each other. Women truly are linked in a real way to peace and security. We don't need any more statements. We need the political will that will truly address these issues and help ensure women's full participation in really dealing with conflict situations.


So, we will have this short film after the Prime Minister's, Honourable Prime Minister's address is over. Now, we are waiting for the Honourable Prime Minister to join. The Honourable Prime Minister has joined us for this function. Now, I request the Honourable Union Minister for Culture and Tourism to come and make his welcome remarks. Aspected Honourable Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi ji, Honourable Lieutenant-Governor Puducherry, Srimati Thamilasai Saundar Rajan ji, Honourable Governor Tamil Nadu Sri N Ravi ji, Honourable Chief Minister Puducherry, Sri N Rangaswamy ji, Ministers of Puducherry Government, Sri Aravindra Society Executive Members, Kaushal Sharma ji, Jagannath ji, all other dignitaries, Officers of Puducherry, Followers of Aravindra, Friends from Media, Ella Varku Vanakkam, Friends, I will welcome one and all to be here on the 150th birthday anniversary of great Indian philosopher and spiritual leader of Sri Aravindra ji. Under the visionary leadership of our Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, our country is celebrating Azad Kamrut Mahotsav as a part of Azad Kamrut Mahotsav. We honour and commemorate the contributions of great spiritual gurus such as Adi Shankaracharya, Swami Ramananjacharya, Guru Govind Singh and so many other gurus, sadhus, santus, freedom fighters and some heroes of Indian independence movement. Especially spiritual gurus, they dedicated their lives towards creating nations that is culturally, spiritually and intellectually. Well, remembering these individuals, one such name that echoes in the hearts of Indian globally is that Sri Aravindra. Even though teachings and philosophy have inspired the government in many ways, this world have indeed made Sri Aravindra proud. Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, while addressing the nation from Red Port on the years of independent day celebrations, 15th August, encouraged us to follow Sri Aravindra's mantra of Swadesa Swaraj, Swarajse Swaraj. Through this event today, we remember Aravindra's teaching and preserve his philosophy, his teachings are motivation to all, especially youth of this country and global. I once again like to thank you for all being part of this event today. Especially Honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji. Thank you once again. Jai Hind Bharat Mataji Jai. The five dreams of Sri Aravindra will be cited by Sri Aravindra. Vande Mataram, Sri Aravindra's five dreams. 15th August, 1947, Swadheen Bharat's birthday. This day ends the old age for India and starts a new age. But as a Swadheen nation, through our work and life, we can make it such an important day that for the entire world, all the political, social, cultural, and spiritual principles of the human race should be brought forth. The first in these dreams was a revolution that will give birth to Swadheen and India. India has become a Swadheen nation today. But it has not achieved unity. It should be expected that this revolution will not be accepted as stone. And it will not be accepted as a permanent solution. No matter what the solution is, no matter what the solution is, the revolution should definitely take place. It should definitely be established. And it will be established only because this is necessary for the future of India. The second dream was to return to Asia. In the work of the independence and the development of the human race, the great place of Asia, to return to that place, India has to take care of its own land. The third dream was to establish an external basis for a beautiful, superior and important life for the entire human race. The human world is on the path of unity. The only reason is the need for nature. It is an independent race. It is also necessary for the nation because without it, a small nation's independence can be in any danger. And the life of large and powerful nations can be unsafe. That is why it is everyone's fault in this only reason. The fourth dream is that the world has already begun the spiritual path of India. The spiritual path of India is entering Europe and America. This is going to increase. More and more people's eyes are looking at India with hope. And not only their education, but also their inner self and spiritual practice is also being taken into account. The last dream was to take the next step in the development of the race which will take the human race to a higher and superior level. And it will start solving those problems. These problems have kept the human race to itself. Ever since it started thinking and thinking about the society, even here, if this development has to happen, then because it will be by the influence of the soul and the inner body, it can start and increase India. And if its area will be full, then the central part of India will do the same. These are the feelings and feelings which are related to the state of India. Will these hopes be true or how will they be true? This is something new and true in India. Shri Arvind Jai Hind. A cultural program on the theme of India and her future will be performed by the devotees of Shri Arvind. In the whole creation, the earth has a place of distinction because unlike any other planet, it is evolutionary with a psychic entity as its center. In it, India in particular is a divinely chosen country. God always keeps for himself a chosen country in which the higher knowledge is through all chances and dangers by the few or the many continually preserved and for the present. In this Chatur Yuga at least, that country is India. The spiritual point of view, India is the foremost country in the world. Her mission is to set the example of spirituality. True spirituality is not to renounce life but to make life perfect with the divine perfection. This is what India must show to the world now. Would soon be complete and the sun rise over the horizon. The sun of India's destiny would rise and fill all India with its light and overflow India and overflow Asia and overflow the world. Every hour, every moment could only bring them nearer to the brightness of the days that God had decreed. To India, land of light and spiritual knowledge. Wake up to your true mission in the world. Show the way to union and harmony. I request the Kandapur Chief Minister of the Chowri, Sri Indra Goswami to come out to the stage and to address the gathering. I request the Chowri Chief Minister of the Chowri, Sri Indra Goswami to come out to the stage and to address the gathering. It is the I would like to express my gratitude to all of you. On the 15th of the month of Aravindranath, the four of us, who have not left the country, have left the country. I would like to express my gratitude to all of you. I would like to express my gratitude to all of you. I would like to express my gratitude to all of you. On the 15th of the month of Aravindranath, the four of us, who have not left the country, have left the country. I would like to express my gratitude to all of you. I would like to express my gratitude to all of you. I would like to express my gratitude to all of you. I would like to express my gratitude to all of you. On the 15th of the month of Aravindranath, the four of us, who have not left the country, have left the country. I would like to express my gratitude to all of you. I would like to express my gratitude to all of you. I would like to express my gratitude to all of you. I would like to express my gratitude to all of you. I would like to express my gratitude to all of you. I would like to express my gratitude to all of you. I would like to express my gratitude to all of you. I would like to express my gratitude to all of you. and how it will be, is the same. In his work, Sri Arapadhyayal said, the world is full of the four main countries. That is why the world has been the leader of the country. If we say that there is one country that unites the world, that is the Maya. Any country has its own question. This world is the same world. The same country, the same people. The people of Mahanmug, Bharatapuram, G20, Mahanmug, Mahanmug, the people of Mahanmug, the people of Mahanmug, the people of Mahanmug, are suffering. Therefore, their energy and its strength, their energy is high. The world is high. The people of Mahanmug, Bharatapuram, G20, Mahanmug, the people of Mahanmug, are suffering. Arvindar ashram has been here for a long time. Arvindar ashram has been here for a long time. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Arvindar is the reason for this. Thank you very much.


coming along to what's, I'm sure, going to be a really interesting and important conversation where I'm going to ask these panellists who are two Canadians, one Australian, to cut through the spin on psychological health and safety and help guide us to some insights around delivering practical and implementable health and safety in Australian workplaces. No, Australian, we would all agree, deserves to be harmed at work. In fact, it's their right to be safe. And as professionals, we have all worked very hard over the past few decades to ensure that physical health and safety is a part of the automatic considerations of business. Our challenges in the future are now to ensure that the same appropriate focus is also on psychological health and safety. But Jamie, before we start, maybe we'd better clarify some terminology here. What are we talking about? When we're people talking about stress, what do they mean? Well, stress is, and it's different for everyone. It's very subjective in many respects. But stress means that a person has the experience at whatever, whatever event they're currently experiencing, they perceive it's beyond their capacity to manage or control. So there's a, either they don't have the resources to do what's required, they don't have the knowledge to do what's required, or it's just simply an overwhelming experience. And what is stressful for one person may be simply mildly challenging for another. And Eldine, you know, what's the evidence saying about psychological health and safety? I think no matter what country or what geographical region you're from, you'll see that a lot of the studies are saying that the more that we are affected in a negative way, the more that increases the risk for any type of injury or illness within a work environment. So traditionally, as health and safety professionals, we've often looked at that hard hazard, right? The physical hazard that's in the workplace. Well, the, the hazard, the mental health hazard can increase the risk of being hurt as we interact with that, as well as it can present its own hazard in the work environment that can cause people to become physically ill, can no longer be able to work. So definitely the results all across the geographical regions are saying, the more people are stressed out, the more psychological health issues are not being dealt with, the higher risk for injury and illness, right? And that, and then that affects what we do at home and play and at work, right? So that can have some detrimental, detrimental effects. So one of you, are there some factors we know that are more important than others? Is it context specific? Is it, what's the evidence telling us about what are the psychosocial hazards that are most important? I think a couple that's in my work experience has been role demands and whether they're realistic or not, both in terms of work required and the time limits in which to complete that would be a significant contributing stressor for a lot of people in the work environment. So that's those role demands and those time pressures seem to be almost universal. Yeah. And I think that's definitely on one side of it. You can look at the environmental context of how management manages. And I think then another component is the coworker environment because we can get poisoned work environments where people are experiencing violence or bullying or, and it may come from purposeful willful or in the case of like healthcare, when you're dealing with medically induced situations, you can be, you know, harassed or stressed out by dealing with a patient that has no other alternative but to act that way. So I think that's also another contributing factor is, is, is how people interrelate within the work environment as well. So we're hearing about role overlays and people, relationships with each other and occupational violence taking that any is for you as a regulator that you are seeing as a really common problem, not only in Queensland but across Australia. Yeah, absolutely. I think workplace bullying and harassment. So that comes under the relationships that you spoke about as well as occupational violence. So being exposed to physical assault or that ongoing verbal assault that customer service operators, for example, would experience quite regularly. We're also experiencing an increasing claims around exposure to trauma, whether that be fatalities in the workplace or distressing events in the workplace. And I think that's the primary sort of drivers. And I think that it's unique to the industry sector that you're in, right? So healthcare may have some production demands and then the demands from how they're interacting with their clients, service or retail may be different, manufacturing more be a production focus. And I think that's why it's so important to have the right program components in place before you do anything. You have to assess where you're at and what's causing the stress or the negative psychological affects. Is it a, is it something that someone's also bringing from home? Because that can affect how we react or what we choose to do or not to do within a work environment. So assessment of individual workplaces is key to find out what can actually contribute to that situation so that you can put the right components in place. And the new National Guide that we've got really clearly articulates those nicely in terms of role clarity, job demands, time pressures, issues around relationships, but also you would know more than me, Peter, some of those reward and recognition. Yeah. Yeah. So I guess that's a long list of potential hazards that businesses need to look at. So how do they work out which ones are relevant that are context specific for them? Perhaps I might go to you, Jamie. Well, I think it starts with, and I'll be very careful not to get too evangelical about this. I think it starts with leadership. And you know, it's not surprising that we've been hearing over the last two days, the importance of leadership in terms of occupational health and safety. I believe it's the same for mental health as well that leaders have a huge impact on terms of managing wellness within a work environment. They have a huge influence. And I think if there was one message I could say is, I think I like to say there's a difference between knowing something and getting it. And I think every leader probably knows that they obviously have an impact and influence their people. But I don't think people really get just to what degree that they can influence. And one of the things that I think leaders need to do when trying to assess what's posing the greatest risk mental health risk for their people or psychological safety is just talking and really listening and really trying to appreciate that it from your observation as a leader, it may be quite different from how people in the front line experience that. And I think one of the things we were talking about previously, and I'll be very brief about this is oftentimes not always, but oftentimes, particularly more senior leaders, one of the reasons why they've been able to progress to that role is that they have either through just good genes or through good skill development along the way have learned to cope with high levels of stress, maybe high levels of uncertainty. And therefore, there's a tendency for them to assume that well, the way I'm experiencing this picture challenge must be the way that my people are experiencing it. And that is not necessarily the case at all. And so being willing to actually have conversations with people about how are they feeling, what's working well, what's working less well, and really being able to hear and listen to what they what they have to say would be a starting point. So is there something that you've so I'm hearing leadership is an issue, but what other ways are there is to actually for businesses to hone in on what are the key issues in their workplaces? I think it's just like any other safety initiative or program that you're taking within your work environment, finding the right assessment tools is necessary to be able to ask the questions and at times in a confidential way, because otherwise people, especially if there's some already anxiety and stress and some pressures, they may not feel confident to, to say in front of a group or a focus group, yeah, I'm having some trouble or I don't like how I'm being communicated with and it's increasing my stress levels is finding that right assessment tool and method that's there. And so I've seen everything from survey monkey type online paper surveys. I've seen where some organizations have brought in outside to do one on one interviews on a variety of levels. So it's finding the right tool and determining the right questions. Because that's important to how you ask them can either increase or decrease stress. Have you ever taken one of those tests where you're like, Oh, if I don't answer this right, what's the right question, I'm gonna have to live with something I really didn't want. Oh, no. Right. So I think, you know, that's that's the right ways finding the right assessment tool, the right, the right approach, the right questions, based upon the objectives that you want to achieve to achieve. And that's to identify what are the hazards that are within the work environment. And what are the other factors that influence that individual that affects the work environment. So there may be some questions about home or. And again, you have to ensure that there's a certain privacy. Yeah, yeah. So Tegan, I know that Queensland led the way with some practical tools around helping employers in what might seem a kind of confusing space. So I wondered if you can share with us, what are some of the practical tools that are out there? Yeah, over a 10 year period, we've been developing what's called the people at work tool. So that's a freely available tool that's available on our website. You can download that and you can use it within your organization. Now it is manual, but at the same time you can implement it and put it into things like Survey Monkey. But it is a validated tool. It's reliable and it does ask some really good questions around each of these risk factors or hazards that are outlined in the National Guide as well as our mentally healthy workplaces toolkit. Yeah, so I understand it's got demand and control and support and organisation change. Yes, absolutely. And I also noticed which goes back to, I guess, our opening statement that I made which was around physical hazards as well, is that it picks up some issues around fatigue and MSD and burnouts as well. Yeah, so it's got some outcome issues. A couple of questions around sleeping, fatigue, those sorts of things, definitely. But it's something that you would incorporate in your whole risk management approach. So when you are trying to understand what those hazards are and the level of risk, you can use a tool like that. But then again afterwards, having those focus groups or having one-on-one interviews with the staff to really understand the context. So the survey results might show you that workload is high, but being able to have those focus groups or interviews will tell you what is high, what is it about the context that people are feeling that their workload is high. So I guess since we are looking at you at the moment is that what is it that you, as a regulator, you expect if your inspectors are going in to workplaces, what is reasonably practical mean and how are you going to see where that's actually being achieved? Yeah, as the regulator we expect that an organisation has a system of work in place that is very much like their physical system, that psychosocial hazards are incorporated into that and that psychosocial hazards are identified, assessed and controlled to a way that's reasonably practicable. So what our inspectors would be doing is looking for documentation or evidence of a system and that it's actually effective in working and they may be asking for documentation then around data like absenteeism and injury rates and injury reports, hazard reports and those sorts of things. So we were having some conversations before today about what's reasonably practical mean and that's what the regulator says but we've heard that leadership has a really important role. What is the system, what's a work system? We as health and safety professionals get roles of our own, design a good design of work and work systems. What's that actually mean in practice for ordinary businesses? We've created a Canadian standard, one of the first countries to actually put together a voluntary standard that helps support a safety management system component. So it's based upon all the elements of what you'd have in a normal safety management system for every physical hazard that's there but it just looks at it within the psychological hazard aspect of it and it actually is a standard that's now going to be the base for a brand new initiative with ISO. ISO is going to take the Canadian CSA standard, create a committee system like they did for 45,000 and one and start to put together more of a global voluntary standard. So that's kind of exciting. So that'll supplement the 45. Yeah on that topic specific just like you'd use 30,000 for risk management and you'd use it so it would help support going forward but it basically outlines the same components that are there but again leadership assessment hazard and risk assessment based upon the hazard and risk assessment what are the components the training the education that's necessary what roles and responsibilities is it of the worker of the supervisor of middle management of the senior executive team and how do they play within that has has been outlined within that that standard and to me would reflect what you would put into any safety management system no matter what geographical location you were from. So I think that's going to really be a bit of a game changer that's for big business though and people with health and safety professionals to help them is it? Well that's what people often think is oh yeah if I want to use you know the 45,000 and one it has to be a big business there's no small and medium aspect to it. One of the things that I liked about the Canadian standards is that we only have like a few big businesses right and they're really big and then everybody else is small mom and pop on entrepreneurial enterprises and some medium ones that are there so often when we look at our standards we we don't target just the big dogs that get to play but how it can apply it's just that the sliding scale to what you implement how technical you get how what documents and what kind of resources you may put to it every organization needs to outline roles and responsibilities they may be different when you have five or six or seven or eight different layers versus when you are a small organization and there's two or maybe three but you still need to outline who does what within that program aspect that's there so you can still use the document it's just a bit of a sliding rule that's there. Training what I want to do for training for a supervisor or owner of a company would probably be fairly similar it's just going to just be a little bit different in range and and how much resources they get versus versus a larger organization. Before I come back to you and ask you to kind of share that story about leadership which I wouldn't want to lose I'm just interested in terms of the regulators in terms of that term that we so often hear about reasonably practicable but in terms of how you go in and have a proportional response as a responsive regulator to a mom and dad fish shop you know fish and chip shop initiative and what would it what does it look like in terms of what your expectations are for for a company with 50 versus five. Yeah as we are a responsive regulator so we often do look to what is the level of exposure so what are the consequences of the risk and the likelihood of that occurring and then we work with that term reasonably practical to understand what should they be doing and in the circumstances or the type of business they have what is reasonable for them in those circumstances so it's hard to say exactly what that would look like because every business is different every industry is different but our inspectors are upskilled to understand how to assess that and how to look at it. And I understand there's quite a lot of work going on behind the scenes with the regulators to be nationally consistent about how they actually apply the expectations around this. A few of the gentlemen this morning spoke about houses so that's the heads of workplace safety authorities and that's a group that we meet nationally we've got two groups in the psychological health space one is from the engagement perspective so how do we engage organizations around this topic of mentally healthy workplaces but from the inspector perspective it's about building their capability and their capacity. So we've been doing a lot of work on developing audit tools and training and just upskilling our inspectorate in this space. So traditionally if an inspectors come to your workplace you may have seen that they might have primarily walked through the procedures with you and perhaps say focus more on bullying but now we're giving them more skills and education and training around how to look at a holistic psychological health and safety management system and to give guidance and advice around that. So even your even your physical inspectors? Yes for us in Queensland it's all of our inspectors we do not have dedicated psychosocial inspectors we have generalists. So I know you're very passionate about the role of leaders in driving change but you've also told me a salutary tale about leaders and personalities and how that can be an issue or not. So can you kind of just explain for us about the role of leaders? Well I've experienced this doing coaching on more than a few occasions where a leader is it's not that they're lacking empathy but they genuinely struggle to try and understand why people are not coping as well as they perceive that they should and I think part of it comes down to just that their own capacity as I said earlier to deal with stress to work long hours to be very very task focused to be very self driven is something that they don't necessarily are there all their people share that same level and so there's there's a sort of a disconnect and because there's a fundamental perception on the part of the leaders going well they just and it's not again it's not a lack of empathy but it's more of a curiosity it's more like they just need to harden up you know I've been through this myself and you know in one of the talks I sat in this morning we're talking about the importance of emotional intelligence. I think I go back to my point about leaders have a big influence over their team you have a big influence over how people experience their work and I'm not talking about that you need to go around and give people hugs and tell them that they're beautiful people but understanding that everything from how you manage your stress how you deal with disappointments how you respond to setbacks is role modeling to your team how they should respond and under the banner of emotional contagion you know the mood that you're in as as a leader will set the tone for the mood that your people are in and so oftentimes it's about helping leaders understand people may actually experience it different than you are and we go back to our my point about it's important to try and be curious to really get a sense of well how how are people experiencing this why do you find this particular situation a challenging and stressful so that's what brings us to one of the issues is that uh I think Elbin was challenging me with last night that people can be part of the hazard too yeah I and I I think it's kind of to speak to your your point a bit is is that leaders sometimes again don't have the tools or skills to deal with it because they've hardened up right they they've just said I'm gonna do this I'm going forward and that's that's a tool they've used to survive and and to thrive uh which doesn't work for everyone else so I think the other aspect of them having difficulty in approaching things is that they don't have the skills then to interact with the individuals that are having the problems to be able to talk to them about it or to give them any tips and then there's that fear in them that if they say something wrong because yeah okay I'm now not reacting properly that's not giving them a good fun and fuzzy now if I say something wrong which sometimes they do now is making it worse and so I rather say nothing at all or not participate in it because of that fear base that's there so that's where we have to support anyone who we see in a leadership position in a role in the organization whether it's the one owner and three workers at the fish shop or the a hundred employee with the supervisor manager and senior leader to give them those those skills to be able to be empathetic to be able to be self-regulatory so they're not saying things that are inappropriate and that they can give good advice or ask the right questions within the environment so that's the supervase I would say the other element that goes to that is oftentimes the leaders themselves are just as stressed as everyone else they just have their own sources of stress and so you've got people who are not coping trying to support people who are not coping yeah in fact I've seen some work by Michelle Tucky we're up to 90 percent when she's basically done a causal analysis 90 percent of the bullying behavior can be tracked back to the pressure pressures that people are under so we're sort of skirting around one of the sensitive issues here is that when employees have psychological issues they can behave badly too can't they so what about when our own individual vulnerabilities and how how big how much does an employer have to actually feel like they need to take responsibility in fact that I might be a sleep deprived grandmother so for us it's all about the systems of work that they have in place so thinking about that idea of a continuum what we say is that on any one day you will have people that will come in with signs of stress or signs of distress or fatigue and those sorts of issues but it's how does your system capture those people and support them and we talk about an idea of it's based on Tony Lamontage's model having a system in place that not only promotes good practices in regards to mental health and that's things like are you okay today and mental health week for example but prevention from a risk management perspective understanding how to identify assess and control those hazards and having an effective risk management approach around that and then being able to intervene early so once someone does show those signs of stress fatigue having ways to capture that and to be able to support that individual and then lastly if they do happen to have an injury illness being able to support them to recovery so it's more so about the system and being able to support them as far as reasonably practical and that's the other From you as a regulator you see there's a limit toward the employee might too I know Elden you're an advocate for better practice so where does that leave off It's difficult for some workers to trust right to be able to say I've just had a child they're callicky they've been crying every night haven't slept very well because they're worried that the supervisor or the manager or the company is going to say we can only tolerate that so long that you know we can have we can have excuses for a period of time but there's a undo hardship that comes into play now larger organizations can often take more of that but if you're one person in a five man team and then you don't want to let anybody down and you don't want to give other pressure and then that increases your stress and pressure because you feel like you're letting your teammates down and your teammates feel like they've been holding up the ball for you for now too long and they exert pressure and it gets to be a big ball that's in there so again you need to have a system in place to support that otherwise that kind of just keeps but what does that system look like and it could be different for every organization that's I hate cookie cutter programs right for three nine three payments of nine ninety nine you two can take this name out put your name in and this will work for you it there is no one size that fits all especially with psychological health and that's why assessment is so important an example of one organization that I thought did an amazing job where they sort of integrated or assimilated their physical hazard and the psychological hazard because sometimes me coming to work in the state that I am in I'm the hazard I could be harmful to myself and to other people by what I choose to do or not to do especially when I interact with the physical hazards within my environment like a crane or a plane yeah yeah and so this happened to be a power generation company in in Canada and they're doing some amazing things under their psychological health and mindfulness and programs and such but one of the things that they do is they do a risk assessment before they do any project and especially with the high hazard activities and they ask about the physical you know it's a normal risk assessment that we all have the conversation with and they do it with them themselves at times small groups with a supervisor and it asks what are the physical hazards are they controlled you know do I have the right tools to do the job and then it's then it asks is there any type of psychosocial hazards that are there yeah we're doing this work in the hood I don't know that's what we call bad areas back home right it's going to be in a bad area and I'm going to set up so I'm really worried because the last time we worked there somebody was attacked or I've you know the dog took my bank account and my truck and they're gone and I'm really stressed out and where they can have that conversation in a very safe environment a very courageous environment so that they can say you know what maybe today you shouldn't be doing this job maybe but you know and here's our EFAP program and here have you but again that can't be just you know here's your new check sheet now go do this it has to have that system that's set up around it so that everyone's supported to have the right conversations and use the right tools I noticed you throw you put in some comments there about wellness and well-being and I think we should actually talk about that because this is one of the issues about well what what does the evidence say about what's effective and what's not and I know that you are sharing with me some of the the literature that's said around cognitive behavioral therapy if you're going to do something absolutely so things like if you're doing stress management training for your people you want to make sure that it's evidence-based and generally speaking if cognitive behavioral therapy techniques are included in the stress management it's it's probably going to be reasonably effective I know that there's some was reading some research on things like anti-bullying campaigns can be very helpful I think one of the things getting back to sort of conflicts or threats in the workplace that unresolved conflicts amongst peers or between a leader and a follower can be one of the highest sources of stress for people that they can become overwhelming quite quickly mindfulness training those sorts of things can be very useful in helping people learn to cope a little bit better I think one of the the key things with training whether we're talking about well-being or we're talking about safety as well though is really trying to understand that just because you share some information with people does not guarantee that they're going to an active and this is where everything from messages systems that are in place to support people for example lunch breaks where people can do a little bit practice their mindfulness whatever it might be or they're encouraged to go for a walk that their systems in place to encourage this and I go back to my my point about leaders walking to talk with this as well that again I think one of the under the banner of role modeling leaders who are proactively looking after themselves sends a strong message one of my leaders heads to the gym at lunch time every day and under the banner of looking after himself and that sense of message how do we balance though not going back to the whole blame the worker and issue deep and they focus on the individual because that's what I'm so worried about is that resiliency training or training that's targeted at the worker is going to be our new PPE right is if we slap that on them then they're going to be safe and it's kind of up to them and really and the hierarchy of our controls that training is kind of down here we have to be looking at some of the systemic issues that are around it and deal with and control those as well so that's one of the things that I've been seeing and that really worry me is that we're just going to focus on that and that's what we do with our people and then it's done oh we're doing something or we phone the company up next door and say what training package are you using and we just use the same one and it may not be for our individuals and yeah it really perpetuates that idea of that it's an individual issue and that's what concerns me is that the organization doesn't have a responsibility the individual has a responsibility somehow it's because they're inherently weak yeah yeah and it sort of blurs the lines for employers and what their actual role is and what their obligations are so by kind of selling these individual programs which is great because they are good things but they need to be part of a bigger system of work that focuses on the individual team and organizational level controls and as safety professionals I think it's going to be important that how we communicate that as well too because you're always going to have a certain amount of the workplace audience that says you know what this is none of your business you know go away I don't want to talk to you about it I'm handling it just fine and I don't want to participate in the programs and or see it as an evasion of their privacy and so how we look at the bigger wellness programs of you know what's your blood pressure and and all that I think we have to be just as sensitive with this if not more so at times to how people are going to react and be able to have the skill set as safety professionals and practitioners to communicate effectively what the program is all about and and what those levels are and be able to address people's concerns on all levels whether it's the worker I don't want to say too much next thing you know I'm going to be fired or if I say too much it's going to be the next new rumor whether it's a supervisor saying I don't want to say the wrong thing and then he does go out and kill himself or you know whoever it may be I think we have to have tools in our toolkit to be able to put the program together and to be able to talk about it effectively so do you need to be an organizational psych to do this stuff it'll help everyone did a psychology degree organizational psych to hear that yeah we're not biased or anything yeah yeah so do you I mean if if we're meant to be incorporating looking at psychosocial hazards as part of a holistic system of dealing with it are we actually making this too complicated for people I think we need some education and in it I don't think we should say hey this is what I want to do if if I was going to go out and do a confined space entry program I wouldn't want to do that without having some knowledge and and base within it or scaffolding program or so forth I need to have some background not saying that you have to become a psychologist within it but definitely understanding the process and the and the components and I guess that kind of brings me to that there is some courses that are out there in different geographical locations and different universities that are putting on to say if you were going to put this program in place this is what you would need to do again in Canada they've just started a certificate program for managers people who are the champions of this program within their workplace that they can take online through the University of Frederickton that says this is how you would assess these are the components that are there these are the things that you need to take a look at and they actually then have a center of excellence see that will support with background information and extra information that you may need to have within it and then that's their advanced program and then they have ones for managers and supervisors and so forth just like we'd say the manager needs to have some training in education and the worker does I think as safety professionals we should be attending professional development conferences like this taking some courses if this is going to be an area of our responsibility and I think you as the regulator would tell us that we all need to be completely across the psychosocial hazards that may actually be impacting other areas that we might consider around our specialty definitely we've got the core skills around identifying, assessing and managing risks it's just about understanding that in the context of psychosocial safety and there's enough guidance out there there's definitely training programs like you've spoken about but I'd hate to say that you have to be an organizational psychologist to do this type of work because you know we talk to our inspectors quite often that they've got that skill base it's just upskilling themselves in this particular area in terms of what the controls are and what the most suitable controls are and then what the hazards are and of course under the due diligence requirements are a person conducting a business or on taking a ploy you might use that term actually it's an obligation to know what's going on in their business and what are the hazards and risks so they can't just say oh I'll leave it to a specialist that I'll call in I think there's a worry out there I know that it's in Canada and it may be here in Australia as well is that this is a new program and initiative right this is going to be something that's new but yet it's been in our legislation forever and a day that you're to take care of the physical social and mental well-being of your employees and so a lot of people are seeing this as a new thing on the landscape as well and and it's not it's already a part of what's regulated it's already a part of what we need to do it's just I think now we're starting to build up our tools and our resources to be able to support that kind of program and initiative in our workplace the one thing that does worry me is that we still in certain workplaces are not good at the physical hazards and and that that doesn't have sometimes a lot of people in it it doesn't have the emotionality around it it's going to be so much harder for us when it is with that people factor right when I can't put a guard on a piece of equipment how can I help someone who's suicidal all right it's and and that's a bit of a worry last night when we were chatting you you were saying it's actually about having reasonable conversations in a reasonable way absolutely I think that first of all I would say and I understand when you've got leaders particularly frontline leaders who are already feeling completely overwhelmed and overworked that when it comes to things like asking them to be a little bit more vigilant not just about physical safety but about mental health safety leaders again who are not trying to be uncaring but just kind of say well where am I going to find the time to do this say I don't have the skills be it's an area I feel completely uncomfortable with and see just why don't they just harden up and I think one of the things it gets back to is I believe in terms of what I've seen on a day-to-day basis the really good leaders who are keeping their people safe whether it's from physical hazards or psycho-emotional they seem to have the capacity to demonstrate care they have the capacity to be willing to genuinely listen I heard a I guess it's a little bit of a clever statement but I on the radio a couple months back someone asked the question what's the opposite of talking any idea what it is listening it's waiting to talk that for most of us our definition of listening is developing a counter response and I think that when we get really good at listening which is really trying to both hear what people are trying to say to us and actually pay attention to how they're acting oftentimes people are communicating to us in ways already that we just need to tune into it and again it's not about being a psychologist but I think it is about being willing to be brave and have conversations going I'm not very good at this sort of stuff but help me understand how are you traveling how are you feeling and what is it seems to be contributing to that and is there anything that that I can do or saying look I'm really lousy at this sort of stuff but you know it looks like maybe you need to you know maybe maybe want to chat with somebody here's here's our REAP number but I think it's about being brave and being willing to be a little bit uncomfortable to at least ask the questions the other thing that I would say and I always say this from a whether we're talking about OHS or whether we're talking about mental health taking care of people is your number one job and again under the banner of leadership and again these terms we use this morning about transactional and transformational I think if fundamental leadership development was helping people understand more about this or our job yes we have to make sure that we're checking the boxes and producing what we need to produce and we need to be looking after our people and developing our people and yes there's certain skill sets that go with that you have a situation where people are more likely to speak up you have a situation where leaders are more likely to be a little bit more tuned in and it starts from senior leaders though because if you want your frontline leaders to be engaging with their team they need to be engaged by their managers and so on and so forth I'm aware we're coming to an end so one of the things that I'd like to do is to ask you about some take home messages for us all from about this topic and so perhaps starting with you Tegan what are some take homes that you'd like about pushing through the spin to actually get to the core issues I think it's about remembering this idea of the continuum the mental health continuum and developing your systems around that looking for guidance on our website so we have recently developed a mentally healthy workplaces toolkit it is the first of its kind from a regulator so that's just a little bit of a plug there but it is true that it's it's really a practical tool that has everything that you need so we got a lot of feedback from industry that they were struggling to understand what is evidence based and where do they go for these type of resources being able to bring it all together in one place so I would suggest if you hadn't had a chance to look at that look at that as well as the national guide because that really provides the foundation for everything that you need in this space so cutting through this beam what do you think this been I think as safety professionals we need to look at what are the tools in our toolbox as well and what the tools that we give individuals in the organization from frontline all the way up to senior leadership to be able to implement a fully developed system to deal with the issues that are there so I think that part of it is on us to ensure that we have the information that's necessary may not become the psychologist but the information that's necessary to build the system and give the support to the people who are responsible within the work environment whether it's small mom and pop or a large organization last thing I'd say is this year alone three million people will experience mental well mental health issues related to anxiety and depression two million with anxiety one million with depression another 25% on top of that will go undiagnosed as leaders it's not a question of if you encounter one of your team members that may be experiencing mental illness it's likely a question of when this is important and again under the banner of using the systems that are in place or in some cases maybe demanding a system be put in place to support you to support your people because again I believe that's your number one priority as a leader is looking after your team one that came to me as you were talking and that I'd noted earlier was we're talking about resilience but what's the difference between personal and organizational resilience because I'm hearing those terms used interchangeably a lot but I believe that they're different perhaps I might start with you LD thanks thanks well I think organizations often are set up to be more resilient because it's a part of their planning right as as you know if something's going to happen in their organization that causes stress on it whether it's a national a natural disaster or whether it is a sales issue or marketing issue they often have already identified some of the hazards the risks and put some controls in place to be able to withstand those types of things where so it's a business resilience yeah it's a real business resilience aspect to it we're on an individual basis we often don't have that built in one of our close family members is killed in an accident or we suffer a loss or something else traumatic happens in our life and it just stops us we haven't a plan in place most often we haven't thought about that because we don't want to think about it and again some people are hardened enough that they can just kind of go and go on and others don't have that or the tools to cope with it so I think it's a real different scale that's there and to me that's the biggest differences is the planning and the system in place so the one thing that would add to that is that on an individual definition resilience is it's not about being bulletproof or not getting knocked down but it is this capacity to be able to pick yourself back up and they oftentimes now using language not just bounce back but bounce forward some people seem to have this ability that when they take a hit there's very much it's very much experienced almost as a as a learning experience and I appreciate that when they're in the midst of it it's not necessarily a learning experience but they they move forward and and learn whatever lessons they need to so they're they're stronger the next time out one of the things from an organizational resilience is is about this ability for an organization to again take a take a hit and be able to bounce back and there is an interesting connection from an organizational to individual resilience those organizations that seem to be most resilient to changing economic conditions and such require a great deal of adaptability and the ability to make changes fairly quickly to do that they need people who are good at change and who are good at adapting and to be good at adapting at an individual level you need to be able to again to have some resilience and be able to manage stress and be able to manage uncertainty you also need to not be overworked and have that yeah absolutely and know that there's times when we're in the change we're going to be working well that begs another question about pressure and stress but yeah being able to respond to the times when when you really need to put in the hours for example but also knowing that there's going to be an end point to that and that you're going to have some recovery time as well all right I think we've probably come to the end of our time if there's no questions from the audience I'd like to thank our panelists for coming along and talking today and being part of Safe Work Australia's virtual seminars yeah thank you