Browsing: Dangerous substances | Page 5

The workplace health and safety contraventions of the company that managed the New Zealand volcanic island that erupted and killed 22 tourists and workers in 2019, included its failure to respond to a 2016 eruption by re-evaluating its risk assessment processes, a judge has found.

The Commonwealth has become the latest WHS jurisdiction to explicitly ban the uncontrolled processing of engineered stone products, under one of a range of changes made by a new legislative instrument.

A major annual WHS survey has revealed the issues keeping duty holders "awake at night", as well as alarming gaps in awareness of air and health monitoring obligations relating to hazardous substances, which are present in more than half of all workplaces.

Australia has taken a big leap towards banning engineered stone products, with the country's WHS ministers agreeing to release a "powerful and compelling" Safe Work Australia report that recommends the ban, and warns there is no evidence that alternative measures can curb the alarming rate of silicosis in engineered stone workers.

• Weak exclusion-zone controls increased fumes risk; and
  
• WHS exemption applied and Code remade in WA.

Union members across all states and territories will proactively block the transportation and use of certain silica-containing materials under a national WHS ban agreed on today.

In an important workers' compensation test case, a tribunal has stressed that firefighters can be exposed to carcinogens in multiple circumstances, and found a former firefighter with prostate cancer is protected by presumptive provisions.

A PCBU has successfully fought off allegations that it used false or misleading information to obtain an authorisation for a high-risk job and to disguise who was really performing the work.

Special protections for first responders with post-traumatic stress disorder are among the "urgent worker safety measures", in the Federal Government's Closing Loopholes Bill, which two crossbench senators are attempting to fast-track through four separate pieces of legislation.

Employers have been urged to consider the multiplicative effects that exposure to multiple occupational hazards - ranging from night work and noise to solvents and heavy metals - have on the development of one of the world's most common serious health conditions, with a unique study finding the risks arise even with low-level exposures.