Elected health and safety representatives will be specially trained to apply and enforce the new WHS regulations on psychosocial hazards like bullying and poor organisational justice, under the Federal budget's $27.4 million package for improving the "safety and fairness" of workplaces.
The start dates for a range of new WHS clauses have been postponed in Western Australia, while a Bill providing presumptive compensation to certain workers with PTSD has been reintroduced in South Australia.
A worker who claimed he was psychologically injured from being required to perform a hazardous task without personal protective equipment, and being bullied by managers and co-workers, has been denied compensation in a case examining the "perception of real events".
Seven kinds of cancer have been added to the list of cancers, in the Commonwealth Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act, which are presumed to be caused by firefighting duties.
Employers have been reminded of their legislative duty to take all reasonably practicable steps to identify all asbestos-containing materials in their workplaces, and pointed to a recent safety prosecution that shows the application of the law extends beyond the demolition and construction industries.
