Browsing: Dangerous substances | Page 108

SWA adds 10 chemicals to hazardous substance system; SA Libs promise cancer compensation for all volunteer firefighters; ACT employers ordered to cease operating after asbestos scare; Another SA director fined for OHS breaches; and Alerts issued after confined space and explosives incidents.

Workers exposed to mica dust - which is used in a number of industries and as an asbestos substitute - can develop the deadly lung disease pneumoconiosis without being co-exposed to other industrial substances, a French study has found.

Electrical advice offered in wake of electrocutions and shocks; Hospitality employers fined for safety and notification breaches; and Mine alerts issued after death, serious injury and dust incidents.

In a scathing judgment of the NSW Police Force's approach to OHS, the employer has been fined a total of $350,000 for its ninth conviction under workplace health and safety laws since 2002.

Exposure to carcinogens during work isn't limited to occupations traditionally associated with hazardous substances, such as mining, according to a Western Australian study, which found white-collar workers are also at risk.

An investigation into a trainee worker's death will consider whether vehicle collision-prevention controls used at mines rely too heavily on "human behaviour", according to a NSW Mine Safety report.

Unions in New Zealand are calling for the introduction of corporate manslaughter laws, after all 12 safety charges laid against Pike River Coal's Australian CEO - relating to the November 2010 mine disaster that killed 29 workers - were withdrawn.

Risk assessment overlooked during system change in WA; Carcinogens don't discriminate, says angered Green; and ACT appoints Industrial Magistrate for safety matters.

The NSW Police Force has rejected claims that it stored seized drugs in bags that deteriorated over time and released toxic fumes, but has not explained why it agreed to pay an officer who worked in a drug vault workers' compensation for permanent damage to his respiratory system.

With the NSW Police Force recently pleading guilty to OHS breaches after officers were exposed to hazardous substances, a former senior sergeant who nearly died from such exposure tells OHS Alert of the obstacles he has faced in trying to prevent the incident from recurring.