Browsing: Emerging risks | Page 4

A coroner has expressed his "fervent hope" that companies and heavy vehicle drivers will cease the common dangerous practice of placing modified window shades on windscreens, in his inquest into the blind-spot-related death of a worker in a parking area.

Assigning "human supervisors" for drones will mitigate some of the emerging safety risks associated with the increasing use of the aerial vehicles in workplace settings, according to Europe's peak safety agency.

• WHS tool for extreme weather launched, applies to city PCBUs;
  
• Seven more safety Codes under review in NSW;
  
• WHS Codes made and varied in NT, new safety laws delayed; and
  
• Roll-away alert issued in SA.

One in four workers suffer health symptoms linked to the indoor air at their workplace, but factors beyond air quality could be to blame for some symptoms, while a range of treatments and supports can tackle more severe conditions, European researchers say.

Complying with a business's WHS duties includes ensuring workers working from home "are not forgotten" under the assumption they will "reach out if they need anything", a senior employment and safety lawyer has told a workplace mental wellbeing webinar.

With 73 per cent of people reporting higher stress and anxiety levels during menopause, becoming a menopause-friendly workplace through education, flexible workplace policies and open conversation will not only support women through this normal life stage, but help the employer meet its WHS duties, according to a commercial health expert.

Menopause often causes "debilitating" symptoms in workers in one of the fastest growing employment groups, and the synonymous hot flushes and night sweats have the least impact, according to a study that also identifies the two most valuable workplace supports. Another study has identified widespread discrimination against pregnant workers.

• Safety officer's brother gets 20 months' jail;
  
• Breakthrough heat study should inform WHS practices, says Monash; and
  
• PTSD-presumption laws further amended in WA.

Older workers report higher stress levels than their younger colleagues, and are more likely to experience musculoskeletal pain, when the number of days they spend working from home exceeds their preferences, an Australian study has found.

Many PCBUs that diligently helped their workers establish safe home workspaces for the COVID-19 pandemic treated this as a "set-and-forget task", failing to "continually" discharge their safety duties, according to two WHS lawyers, who explain what businesses can and must do to tackle the post-pandemic surge in work-related mental health issues.