Employers will face increasing pressure to comply with their WHS notification duties around s-xual assault and harassment, under legislative and policy changes recommended by a major PricewaterhouseCoopers review, which found some companies engage in "opportunistic and deliberate breaches" of the obligations.
A major law firm has implemented special WHS procedures for its lawyers to respond to clients threatening suicide, self-harm and violence, and provides them with vicarious trauma training, to protect them from psychological injury.
A commission has quashed a WHS notice alleging an organisation did not have an adequate assessment process to protect workers from the risk of violence.
A major employer has successfully argued, on appeal, that a similarly large company should be joined to a compensation claim from a psychologically injured worker, given he was the victim of two armed robberies with the second company.
Proactively integrating men and women workers in male-dominated workplaces can reduce discrimination and promote safer cultures, a landmark study seeking to "stamp out" occupational s-xual violence has found.
New Federal laws prohibiting conduct creating "hostile" workplace environments, and imposing a positive duty on employers to prevent s-xual harassment, have passed both houses of Parliament with additional provisions clarifying the related operation of WHS legislation.
The Federal Government has committed to ratifying a global convention against work-related violence and harassment, in a move that is expected to have a practical impact on Australian workplaces and compel employers and legislators to increase safety standards and requirements.
