A superior court has rejected a worker's dust-related damages claim, but found that employers that don't have a safety management system for allergenic dust can be sued under dangerous substances laws.
The wife of a worker who was exposed to asbestos while working for Telstra, and later died from lung cancer, has been denied death benefits, after a tribunal found her husband's disease was probably caused by tobacco.
Employers will be required to notify safety inspectors every time dust concentrations in mines exceed prescribed limits, under new anti-black lung regulations commencing in Queensland in January.
The Cancer Council is using National Safe Work Month to warn of the risks associated with diesel-fuelled machinery, after finding exposure to diesel fumes is Australia's second-most prevalent work-related cancer-causing agent.
The mining and quarrying industry in Queensland has recorded its first ever fatality-free year, but the achievement was overshadowed by the return of black lung, and tighter dust regulations are needed, the Commissioner for Mine Safety and Health says.
Six WHS Codes of Practice have been amended in NSW, while Safe Work Australia has released a new guide to storing, handling and disposing of workplace carcinogens.
