Browsing: Health and mental wellbeing | Page 8

• WHS minister reveals plan to push for engineered stone ban;
  
• Silica phase of "Clean Lungs" campaign launched; and
  
• Energy Australia Yallourn accused of more safety breaches.

A leading workplace lawyer has urged employers not to leave difficult-to-manage workplace behaviours and conflicts unchecked, exposing workers to the risk of psychological injuries.

Researchers have identified three factors that increase the risk of sleep problems and consequential health conditions in shift workers.

• WHS regulator targeting notification failings;
  
• Business owner faces jail under WHS intimidation charge; and
  
• Two workers hospitalised with heat-related illnesses.

Making workers feel trusted when they work from home is key to reducing stress and burnout, while well-equipped home workspaces are also extremely beneficial, a study has found.

A six-week "physical induction" to get new workers into the right condition to perform their role safely is one critical part of Australia Post's "endeavour" to prevent "predictable" injuries.

A major energy company that failed to implement an adequate visual inspection regime for power poles, and a business that failed to manage asphyxia risks, have been fined a total of nearly $500,000 over fatalities. Meanwhile, duty holders have been urged to assess the risk of heat-related illnesses, after an outdoor worker died in hot weather.

A leading legal expert on technology and the workplace has warned of the WHS risks and implications of using "bossware" to track workers' productivity, including that it can trigger cease-work orders under safety laws.

A company that uses 3D modelling and motion sensors to better manage work tasks and prevent musculoskeletal disorders has been handed a major safety prize.

Australia has taken a big leap towards banning engineered stone products, with the country's WHS ministers agreeing to release a "powerful and compelling" Safe Work Australia report that recommends the ban, and warns there is no evidence that alternative measures can curb the alarming rate of silicosis in engineered stone workers.