Browsing: Dangerous substances | Page 91

Occupational exposure to particulate matter causes irregular heartbeat associated with cardiovascular mortality, a study has found.

A commission has upheld the dismissal of a worker who breached his employer's health and safety provisions by smoking outside a designated area.

A Federal inquiry into the re-emergence of work disease black lung has called for company doctors and safety inspectors to be trained to avoid "regulatory capture", after finding regulator and industry failures have exposed workers to the fatal illness.

Two employers have been fined a total of $690,000 for serious safety incidents involving labour-hire companies, with one resulting in the death of a 15-year-old boy. In the other, a migrant worker sustained extensive burns after being told he had to use an online dictionary to translate his work instructions into his native Mandarin.

• New dust regulations coming to Qld;
  
• Work-related death tolls spike; and
  
• Safe Rates Tribunal ceases today.

A NSW employer and its director have been fined more than $500,000 after a worker fell to his death through an unguarded penetration. The verdict came just weeks after the employer and a related company were fined $254,000 (with costs) for illegally dumping asbestos on the same site.

A review prompted by the re-emergence of the incurable work disease, black lung, has found that miners who show signs of respiratory illness aren't advised to avoid exposure to dust, and company doctors aren't required to have a comprehensive knowledge of work environments.

A major employer has committed to spending more than $340,000 on a safety leadership program for front-line supervisors and other initiatives, in addition to the $200,000 it has already spent on rectifications, after two workers suffered burns.

• Govt Bill to block Safe Rates system for at least eight months;
  
• Comcare issues GHS advice, launches awards;
  
• New framework embeds safety into government policy;
  
• COAG agrees to consider domestic violence leave; and
  
• Qld tackles healthcare violence.

An intervention that enforced the proper use of safety gloves significantly reduced workers' exposure to hazardous chemicals and the risk of developing occupational skin disease, Belgian researchers say.