Few employers will maintain high WHS standards if Australia continues on its path of inconsistent sentencing and prioritising encouragement over sanctions, leading health and safety lawyer Michael Tooma has warned.
An employer of 1200 workers with diverse capabilities has developed a "positive and preventative" safety culture by using interactive tools in a new safety program.
Employers have been urged to take psychological risks as seriously as other workplace hazards, after an audit found that few mining operations properly consult with workers on mental wellbeing strategies.
Employers can improve safety through the "moral choice" of reducing job demands and increasing resources, while workers must take responsibility for their own work-life balance, according to recommendations from a recent worrying survey of principals.
Shift work has been widely linked to impaired sleep and poor safety outcomes, but it also diminishes a worker's ability to perform daily activities like running errands or paying bills, and can lead to reckless behaviour, US researchers have found.
Employers should erect speed-limit signs on workplace roads, and assess the collision risks posed by fixed roadside objects, a regulator has advised in light of a recent car crash.
In a timely study for Australian duty holders - considering recent record-high temperatures - US researchers have identified a link between heat strain and acute kidney injuries in workers.
OHS courses and certificate IV training must be overhauled to transform safety from a "mechanical counting activity" to a "helping profession", risk expert Dr Robert Long says.
