Browsing: Emerging risks | Page 5

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.

Employers have been warned to avoid the "fire hose trap" of safety messaging, with a trends report identifying a surge in safety-related critical incidents, including workplace incidents where police are called.

Digital monitoring systems are playing an increasing role in preventing workplace injuries and minimising the consequences of incidents and emergencies, but they can create new risks, including by "blurring" safety responsibilities, a new policy brief out of Europe has warned.

An alarming "first of its kind" WHS survey has found that burnout rates are surging, with isolated environments partly to blame, while a new "WHS Radar" has warned of the "emergence of complacency" around critical safety issues.

• Contraband creating explosive WHS risks; and
  
• Workplace fatality highlights stored-energy hazards.

The effectiveness of workplace safety management practices applied to chemicals requires urgent verification, according to preventive medicine researchers, who have found that working in premises where regulated chemicals are handled is associated with a high risk of developing cancer.

A near-decade-long study has found that workers with risk factors for cardiovascular disease can be up to 17 times more likely to develop carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow, golfer's elbow or rotator cuff tendinitis.

This week's resignation of the Western Australian Premier, who cited exhaustion, underscores that employers need strong safety systems to prevent burnout in leaders, including avenues for staff to raise concerns if their managers are showing symptoms, a senior HR and management academic says.

Researchers have called for "crucial" preventative strategies for workers struggling with asthma, and have identified jobs and chemicals that escalate the risk of one of the most common cancers among male workers.