Employers dealing with workplace bullying issues should identify "high-conflict behaviours" in staff, and reduce them using the "EAR response", says a conflict resolution expert.
Twelve Victorian entities, including a workplace supervisor, have been ordered to pay a total of nearly $340,000 in fines and costs for height and other safety breaches, including one that left a worker in a wheelchair.
"Over-induction" and rushing linked to injuries; NSW and WA regulators issue work function and heat warnings; and Fuel safety alert issued in Queensland.
In the lead-up to Christmas, employers are being urged to ensure workers have adequate support from their mates and don't rush to finish jobs, with stress and injury claims increasing at this time of year.
What do you do if you are accused of workplace bullying? Safe Work Australia answers this question and more in two new anti-bullying guides. SWA has also released two new fatigue guides and the revised version of the construction work Code of Practice.
Australia is on track to reduce work-related deaths and serious injuries by 20 per cent and 30 per cent respectively by 2022, but success hinges on the OHS environment continually improving, Safe Work Australia says. SWA has also released its annual report, a new guide and a revised incident-notification fact sheet.
The Queensland Mine Safety and Health Commissioner has expressed concerns about the over-representation of contractors in fatality statistics, while his chief inspectors have outlined four "underlying principles" for improving safety.
Federal Employment Minister Eric Abetz has hinted at what his approach to the WHS Act will be over the next three years, in citing - as an example of overregulation - a suggestion in the now-defunct bullying Code of Practice that employers put up anti-bullying posters in lunchrooms.
The life-span of the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal could prove very short, with Federal Employment Minister Eric Abetz announcing a review into whether it imposes "onerous and unnecessary compliance burdens" on employers.
The safety standards during the construction of Brisbane's Airport Link tunnel have been declared "deplorable", with one worker being killed, the joint-venture partners facing OHS prosecutions, one partner and another employer entering enforceable undertakings after other workers were injured, and 70 notices being issued by a regulator.
