Australian researchers have found the rate of same-level falls in workplaces is set to surge among a major group of workers, and urged employers to implement tailored interventions, including for remote-work arrangements.
An employer's multiple efforts to engineer out a safety risk failed to prevent a worker's serious crush injuries because of the absence of supplementary administrative controls, a court has found in fining the employer.
An eight-item questionnaire to detect sleep apnoea in at-risk workers has proved to be an effective and low-cost way to screen a workforce for a condition that poses significant safety and health risks, researchers say.
The first duty holder to be charged under Western Australia's Work Health and Safety Act has become the first entity to enter a WHS undertaking in the State, with its $1.47 million worth of enforceable commitments aligning with the recommendations from a parliamentary inquiry into workplace s-xual harassment.
Workplace safety professionals were among the first to foresee the extensive threats created by COVID-19, showing that involving them more in emergency decision-making can facilitate more effective responses for organisations and the community, an international study has found.
Safe Work Australia has committed to immediately drafting changes to the national model WHS laws to reflect the outcomes of yesterday's WHS ministers meeting on engineered stone and other issues. The non-harmonised state of Victoria will make similar changes to its safety legislation.
Australia's WHS ministers have unanimously agreed to prohibit the use, manufacture and supply of engineered stone, under a plan that will be matched with a "complementary customs prohibition" on the material, and new WHS laws for all industries where crystalline silica is present.
Managers have been urged to target the factors that exacerbate work stress and lead to sleep disorders, with a 12-year study suggesting this can reduce the risk of "poorer work ability trajectories" among older workers.