Browsing: Health and mental wellbeing | Page 133

• Inquiry demands better safety and flexibility for older workers;
  
• Employers urged to make online "safety promise", and act on it; and
  
• Two in three respondents want workplace health programs.

A worker whose psychological condition severely deteriorated after he suffered a needlestick injury has been awarded more than $300,000 in damages.

Workers who perform tasks requiring them to elevate their arms beyond 90 degrees are significantly more likely to undergo surgery for subacromial impingement syndrome (SIS), European researchers have found.

Workers exposed to hot and humid conditions should be tested for dehydration and permitted to take regular rest breaks, a regulator has advised after a machine operator lost consciousness and died.

Employers have been urged to "see the person not the drug" when dealing with workers suspected of misusing drugs or alcohol.

In a decision highlighting employers' obligations to workers with mental illness, the Fair Work Commission has found an employer unrealistically expected an incapacitated worker to provide evidence of his ability to return to work.

Individuals exposed to disinfectants are twice as likely to suffer from asthma - than those not exposed to the substances - after relatively short periods of regular use, European researchers have found.

A major employer has gone "back to basics" to encourage stressed workers to talk about their health and boost the uptake of a new wellbeing program.

Many employers use "single focused" wellbeing and safety programs that don't engage workers, but they can encourage participation by highlighting the links between mental and physical health and injury risk, according to a workplace health expert.

Comcare will extend its "proactive regulatory reach" and take steps to reduce workers' comp premiums in 2017-18, while Safe Work Australia will finalise its policy on harmonised explosives laws, the Australian Government budget shows.