Browsing: Health and mental wellbeing | Page 3

Disingenuous attempts by companies to curb s-xual harassment in response to increased attention on the matter are damaging the chances for change, according to the latest instalment of a landmark Australian study.

Former Federal S-x Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick has been tasked with shifting her focus to a new sector and ensuring employers are complying with their positive duties to prevent harassment and protect the safety of staff.

A recent workers' comp dispute has illustrated the "tricky climate" new legislation on workplace s-xual harassment has created for employers, and the need to adapt processes to specific complaints, a senior safety and employment lawyer says.

The rate of work-related dermatitis has nearly doubled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but a major review has identified two effective methods to prevent the "ubiquitous" skin condition.

Determining and comparing how "work is really done" with how it is "imagined" in safety documents is key to designing work with minimal psychosocial risks of burnout and stress, according to new regulatory guidance.

A major study spanning the European Union has found the COVID-19 pandemic was a "formative event" for workers' mental health. It found many workers experienced increasing stress, mainly linked to two factors, and employers must continue to proactively monitor potentially health-damaging working conditions.

• Qantas agrees to pay $21k in ongoing WHS discrimination case; and
  
• Disconnect laws highlighted on release of mental stress numbers.

A Medibank trial giving workers "the gift" of time recouped from fewer meetings, more autonomy and saying no to less-value work, has decreased stress levels and significantly reduced sick leave in some workers, according to a senior executive.

Different forms of verbal aggression have different effects on workers' mental health, according to a unique study, which found supervisors are common perpetrators of abuse and need special training to help staff achieve psychological detachment from work.

Employers adopting a four-day work week are being urged to increase their employees' knowledge of the injury risks associated with work intensification, and warned against leaving it up to staff to figure out how to maintain their output.