Browsing: Health and mental wellbeing | Page 139

Workers with physically active jobs are as prone to cardiovascular disease as the general public, according to researchers, who suggest an alternative to weight-loss targets for overweight employees.

Safe occupational exposure limits for carcinogenic diesel motor exhaust are far lower than common exposures, and can't be achieved by "older technology" diesel engines, a European quantitative risk assessment has found.

A worker has been awarded workers' compensation for a mosquito-borne disease, after a tribunal found her employer induced her to stay in the shoddy accommodation where she was bitten by the insects.

The Cancer Council is using National Safe Work Month to warn of the risks associated with diesel-fuelled machinery, after finding exposure to diesel fumes is Australia's second-most prevalent work-related cancer-causing agent.

A major employer has reduced its days lost to ergonomic injuries from about 200 per year to just two, as well as lowering its workers' comp premiums, since introducing its "ergonomic champions" program.

Researchers have found that workers who have control over their work times sleep better and are more alert, but warn that flexible schedules can also have adverse health effects.

Effort-reward imbalance and organisational injustice can significantly increase thoughts of suicide among workers, a study has found.

Highly stressed workers who benefit most from workplace "wellness centres" are the least likely to attend one, a study has found.

• CoR laws aligned with WHS Act under host Bill;
  
• Last jurisdiction joins national rail safety regime; and
  
• Expanded cancer comp laws pass in WA.

With technology "rapidly transforming traditional models of work", employers must look beyond traditional ways of improving safety - and "partnerships" are key, the Comcare National Conference heard today.