Workplace exposure limits for diesel emissions are likely to be set under the national model WHS laws, with a major Safe Work Australia-commissioned report finding the prevention of diesel-related cancers and other diseases hinges on keeping exposure levels low.
This major user-friendly report looks back at all the major and most interesting workplace safety and compensation developments from the start of the calendar year, including the ministerial vote on industrial manslaughter, multiple manslaughter charges, the widespread introduction of new psychosocial risk regulations, and a major WHS case involving the deaths of overseas students.
A superior court has quashed a decision acquitting a worker of recklessly contributing to a fatal crushing, ruling that the requisite test for a guilty verdict was whether the worker foresaw it was possible, rather than probable, that a death would occur.
Events for World Day for Safety and Health at Work tomorrow will include a celebration of the International Labour Organisation's recent decision to recognise "a safe and healthy working environment" as a fundamental principle and right at work, and a web discussion on how to practically implement this right.
An employee who failed to complete his employer's "working from home" checklist, during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been awarded compensation, with a tribunal ruling his unergonomic home office set-up significantly contributed to his right shoulder injury.
A "formidable and direct" manager's email reprimanding an overworked worker for working from home was unreasonable and caused a compensable psychiatric injury, a tribunal has found.
A range of WHS Codes and amendments, covering psychosocial hazards and other issues, have taken effect in two jurisdictions, while certain WHS exemptions have been reapplied in one of them, and duty holders in a third jurisdiction have been warned that driver-distraction cameras have been "switched on".
