Browsing: Injury prevention | Page 9

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.

The efforts, or lack thereof, of employers to comply with their positive duty to proactively prevent s-xual harassment will be actively scrutinised by at least one more regulator from today, with the Australian Human Rights Commission's new powers taking effect.

A major survey of leaders from large businesses and government departments from around the world has found many company officers aren't being sufficiently informed of psychosocial risks to comply with their proactive WHS duties.

• Triple prosecution urged after gas-monitoring incident;
  
• New WHS guide tackles fatigue and outlines duties in NT; and
  
• McGurk gets WHS portfolio in WA.

A WHS regulator will enforce the utilisation of risk assessments for psychosocial hazards in psychologically dangerous workplaces, under one of 18 recommendations from a parliamentary inquiry into NSW's workers' compensation system.

A WHS regulator has vowed to take a zero-tolerance approach, involving prohibition notices and hefty non-compliance penalties, in a new multi-sector blitz aimed at preventing a "false sense of security" around dust.

Employers have been urged to identify all powerlines at their workplaces, including around entry and exit points, after a company was convicted and fined over an electrocution. Employers have also been warned about the presence of asbestos in workplace fire doors, following exposure incidents.

• Reduce burnout risks with role modelling and detox: RMIT;
  
• WHS amendments commence on Xmas day in SA; and
  
• SWA releases labour-hire Know Your Duties tool.

Provisions for health and safety representatives and entry rights could be amended by a new Queensland WHS Bill, while a WHS blitz has found that every targeted business in one industry was breaching its health and safety obligations.