Browsing: Emerging risks | Page 57

Victoria's notorious Fiskville training centre, whose health and safety issues - including an alleged "cancer cluster" - led to the downfall of WorkSafe's CEO and chairperson, has been closed permanently.

Ambulance officers and paramedics are more likely than most other workers to suffer mental and musculoskeletal injuries, and their workers' comp claim rates are increasing, Australian researchers have found.

In a submission to the Productivity Commission that sends a strong message to employers, Australian National University researchers have highlighted the link between unpredictable working hours and occupational injuries, musculoskeletal disorders and poor health.

Coronial inquiries into the deaths of three Victorian workers, who were electrocuted after vehicles struck overhead powerlines, have found that at-risk workers are provided with little site-specific information about the hazard.

Three safety regulators have outlined how to reduce the risk of musculoskeletal injuries, choose the right respirator when working with harmful contaminants, and prevent Legionnaires' disease at work facilities.

Employers are being urged to apply higher-order hazard controls wherever practicable, after a new Safe Work Australia report found that more than three in five workers are regularly exposed to multiple hazards associated with occupational diseases.

Fatigued workers are significantly more likely than their non-tired counterparts to experience difficulties with everyday activities like walking - making otherwise routine tasks hazardous, researchers have found.

• Fatality-related switchgear warning directed at miners;
  
• Qld and Vic regulators investigating forklift and fall deaths; and
  
• WA launches safety resource for small business.

A groundbreaking international study has confirmed that occupational exposure to diesel engine exhaust can cause cancer. Meanwhile, the NSW EPA has announced plans to require coal mines to develop best-practice ways to cut diesel emissions.

A new Safe Work Australia report has confirmed that certain nanomaterials could cause mesothelioma, while Europe's peak safety agency has outlined steps employers can take to reduce the risk of workers developing cancer.