Browsing: Coronavirus, COVID-19 | Page 32

Wearing face masks is a critical safety measure for protecting workers from COVID-19, but some are causing wearers a "new subtype of headache", according to Spanish researchers.

The International Organisation for Standardisation has released an OHS Standard, available for free in a read-only format, on working safely during the COVID-19 pandemic. The document includes practical guidance on protecting employees as they return to their usual workplaces under easing pandemic restrictions.

An employer acted unreasonably in citing COVID-19 concerns to block a union official from entering a workplace lunchroom, given it failed to apply its COVID-safety policies consistently and the official didn't pose additional risks, the Fair Work Commission has found.

• Workplace COVID plans urged as restrictions ease in NSW;
  
• Commonwealth WHS Regulations amended for GHS 7; and
  
• Thirty-two WHS notices issued to ACT childcare centres.

Work health and wellbeing strategies that address "whole person health" and support social connectiveness will be major investment focuses for employers over the next 12 months, a survey of WHS and HR managers has found.

Workplaces like healthcare facilities should apply the hierarchy of controls to respiratory protection programs and test all relevant staff, regardless of symptoms, when an outbreak of coronavirus or similar occurs, the independent review of the COVID-19 outbreak in north-west Tasmania has found.

End-of-year work celebrations are likely to be very different this year due to COVID-19, with mental health issues and the possibility of restricting attendee numbers just some of the new things to think about, a senior safety lawyer says.

• COVID increases usual work-related Christmas risks; and
  
• Alert issued over guardrail failure and fall.

Employers need to implement formalised working-from-home (WFH) policies and procedures to enable workers to gain the associated health benefits of WFH and disengage from work after hours, new Australian research has shown.

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.