Browsing: Health and wellbeing

Federal parliamentarians and parliamentary workplace staff will be better protected from s-xual assault, harassment, bullying and other WHS risks through a new complaints mechanism, being established under a legislative instrument.

The Federal, state and territory governments have been told to enact greater oversight of the WHS duty to provide resources for workers exposed to heat, and urgently review regulatory frameworks to ensure workers are protected against emerging risks from climate change.

• Mandatory COVID vaccine rule applied to another industry; and
  
• Plant warning issued in format first for WHS regulator.

Three new tiers of support for workers in distress, and other employees of a major government organisation, have yielded hundreds of interactions steering participants towards better mental health, a conference has heard.

Being able to talk to managers about stress experienced at work, without fear of recrimination, more than doubles a worker's ability to cope with the stress, a major burnout study of more than 1,500 Australian and New Zealand workers has found.

The Victorian Government has claimed it has witnessed "appalling" levels of non-compliance with workplace safety regulations made for the COVID-19 pandemic in the construction industry, in shutting down the sector for two weeks.

The struggle of workers to "decode" written communications, which are prolific in remote-work set-ups, is triggering a hunter-gatherer survival mechanism and perceptions of being bullied, a senior WHS researcher says.

Mandatory COVID-19 vaccine requirements are being applied to more sectors in Victoria, under a plan in which unvaccinated people will be "left behind". Another jurisdiction has announced Australia's "strongest vaccination plan" for workers, while the National Cabinet has agreed to integrate immunisation histories into check-in apps.

In a major report on Australia's "forced experiment" - widespread working-from-home arrangements for the pandemic - the Productivity Commission has detailed employers' WHS duties to remote workers, examined the "right to disconnect" and called for an upcoming WHS review to address the issue.

Employers should do everything they can to encourage COVID-19 jabs because having fully vaccinated workers is "priceless", especially in the construction industry, which faces particular challenges to remaining COVID-safe and mentally healthy, an HR specialist says.