The commencement date for South Australia's new offence of industrial manslaughter has been confirmed, while a WHS regulator has announced a crackdown on poor housekeeping in an industry with a high rate of serious musculoskeletal disorders.
The High Court has agreed to consider quashing the application of allegedly outdated judgments that bar damages for psychiatric injuries caused by dismissal processes, in the case of a worker who was subjected to a sham dismissal after an incident on a work trip.
A PCBU exhibited "multiple failures at management levels" to respond to violent workplace incidents, which escalated after it accepted additional high-risk clients and led to workers being assaulted, a court has found.
Employers have been reminded of their WHS duties to pregnant and parent workers, and urged to make ergonomic adjustments where needed, after a major project found these workers continue to face "vast discrimination, disadvantage, and bias".
A major law firm is targeting body, mind, culture and place through a holistic wellbeing program with strategies ranging from "desk stretch cards" to vicarious trauma training, and its employees are reaping the rewards with reductions in depression, stress and anxiety.
A "critical and insensitive" manager who routinely swore at his subordinates in an attempt to motivate them to meet purported "German demands" has lost his adverse action case, with a court finding his behaviour warranted instant dismissal and he wasn't the victim of WHS breaches.
Eating badly can be as bad for workers' alertness and safety outcomes as sleep deprivation, according to a leading dietitian who urges employers to "make the healthy choice the easy choice" in workplaces.
Another employer has been fined for workplace health and safety breaches affecting children, with its failures including not maintaining a safe supervision ratio of employees to customers.
Disingenuous attempts by companies to curb s-xual harassment in response to increased attention on the matter are damaging the chances for change, according to the latest instalment of a landmark Australian study.