Browsing: Psychosocial issues | Page 10

Training that busts the myth that drugs and alcohol are the only notable causes of workplace impairments can be an "aha" moment for managers, and help them properly respond when they suspect a worker might be impaired, researchers say.

A worker's inappropriate s-xual jokes and comments constituted s-xual harassment and provided a valid reason to dismiss him, according to a commissioner, who has also warned his former employer to do more to meet its positive WHS duty to prevent harassment.

A tribunal has found that while workplace factors only made up one-tenth of the contributing factors to a worker's psychological condition, his employment was still a "significant" contributor.

An employer ignored its own alternative "rehabilitative" paths to termination for alcohol and drug breaches, which, if applied, would "very likely" have prevented a worker's death, a coronial inquiry has found.

Most Australian employers in a high-hazard industry are aware of the need to train workers on WHS issues like harassment and bullying, but many deliver this training through single, isolated sessions that are known to have little impact, a series of workshops and interviews with safety professionals has found.

• WHS regulator targeting numerous NSW businesses;
  
• Key WHS measure for Cth parliamentary workplaces introduced; and
  
• WHS Regulations amended in WA.

In an ongoing case involving a worker claiming she was bullied by being barred from working from home, a court has clarified when a person has a workplace right to expect their employer to comply with the Fair Work Act's anti-bullying provisions.

An employer has successfully argued it did not unfairly dismiss an absent worker after an independent medical examination (IME) found "malignant resentment" prevented her from ever being fit to return.

• Recklessness fine followed by site-preservation conviction; and
  
• Refugee advocates concerned by developments in WHS cases.

A worker who claims she was bullied through her managers withholding resources like work cars from her, and excluding her from social events, has been denied stop-bullying orders.