An excessive focus on preventing sick leave, and the absence of "preventive support", are common to interventions for workers with chronic conditions, according to researchers who say employers need to move away from reactive measures.
After a difficult year of scandals, icare NSW has announced plans to increase workers' compensation premiums twice in the next two years, but stresses it will continue to provide discounts to employers with strong WHS and return-to-work records.
An occupational physician's comment to a worker that he might be made redundant was not work-related and his employer was not liable for any consequential mental injuries, a tribunal has found.
A worker who developed post-traumatic stress disorder after being violently assaulted in the course of his employment has been awarded the costs of repairing his backyard "Bali hut", with a tribunal finding the services satisfied the "assisting to cope" test under workers' comp laws.
A tribunal full bench has upheld an important finding that a worker did not engage in serious and wilful misconduct when he refused to undergo a surprise drug test while certified unfit for work.
In a move that should influence the workplace management of psychological injuries, a regulator has amended its expectations of insurers to require an empathetic response to psychological injury claims and the identification of any safety risks posed by recovery-at-work arrangements.
An employer's treatment of a worker, when she returned to work after allegedly being assaulted by a colleague at a social event, included transferring her to a perceived "dumping ground" for "staff with issues" and exacerbated her injury from the attack, a commission has found.
A worker's painful injury, unsuccessful return to work with bullying co-workers, and "frustrating dealings" with rehabilitation managers, rendered his hypertension a workplace injury, a tribunal has found.
Organisations have been urged to focus on preventing workplace bullying over resilience and "resistance" building, with researchers finding even highly resilient workers struggle to return to work after suffering a bullying-related injury.
A tribunal has rejected claims that a worker, whose mental illness was aggravated by a return-to-work process, was not injured "in the course of employment" because he had not commenced any actual work.
