OHS Alert is taking a break for a few weeks, and we're leaving you with a list of our most popular articles from the last 12 months - a list dominated by our leading stories on managing the work-related risks of COVID-19, and high-profile court cases.
A study of more than a million workers has identified an increased risk of neurological disease in those from a major sector. In another study on asthma and other lung diseases, researchers have called for the respiratory risks posed by cleaning agents to be included in COVID-19 work guidelines.
Employers that implement WHS initiatives deemed "highly likely" to reduce the risks of psychological injury should pay lower workers' comp premiums, while all workers who lodge mental health-related claims should receive treatment costs, regardless of liability, the Productivity Commission's mental health inquiry has found.
More than one in three of the hundreds of COVID-19-related workers' compensation claims lodged in Australia involve mental health issues, new data from Safe Work Australia shows. Meanwhile, Western Australia has introduced a Bill extending its tough penalties for pandemic-related violence against frontline workers.
Comcare will roll out a low-intensity cognitive behaviour therapy program to up to 120,000 Commonwealth employees over the next two years, while continuing to provide mental health first-aid training to its own workers, its 2019-20 annual report shows.
This article examines all the must-know workplace safety, workers' compensation and COVID-19 developments from July, August and September 2020, with highlights including a new WHS Code for the pandemic, the Dreamworld judgment, a record double-fatality fine and gross negligence cases.
The Federal Government has been accused of "inaction" affecting work safety standards, with Safe Work Australia's latest statistics report showing the national work-related fatality toll increased for the first time in more than a decade.
More than a third of workers who suffer a work injury will sustain a further injury within a short period of time, according to New Zealand researchers, who say their findings reveal an "important intervention point" for preventing incidents and reducing injury rates.
"Work status" provisions in WHS and employment laws should be amended and aligned to remove disincentives to the provision of safety protections for gig workers and others, according to an inquiry, which is likely reignite calls for Victoria to adopt the model WHS Act.
