Inadequate guarding and lack of roll-over protection contribute to more than a third of work-related fatalities associated with unsafe plant or equipment design, a new Safe Work Australia report has found.
The Fair Work Commission has slammed an employer for sacking a worker following an HR manager's "fundamentally flawed" investigation into an alleged assault, but agreed that a workplace "code of silence" hindered the process.
The inadvertent use of asbestos-containing materials is likely to increase as employers turn to the internet to source cheaper materials, according to the ACT Work Safety Commissioner, who has also outlined measures being put in place to ensure the safe demolition of more than 1000 "Mr Fluffy" buildings.
Plant designers, suppliers and users are being reminded, in light of an excavator death, that they are obligated under safety laws to provide fit-for-purpose equipment and manage risks according to the hierarchy of controls.
Two John Holland entities have been fined $180,000 each for failing to train a vehicle operator or ensure the vehicle had adequate brakes, after a worker was fatally struck by the vehicle.
A national employer has been given the go-ahead to conduct confirmatory urine drug and alcohol tests on workers who fail saliva tests, after a five-member Fair Work Commission full bench quashed a Deputy President's decision on the issue.
A psychologically injured worker, whose 'messy' diagnosis made it difficult to attribute his impairment to a particular event, has been awarded lump sum compensation.
Australian researchers have found that while medical practitioners are regularly exposed to aggression from "external sources", bullying or abuse from co-workers has the greatest impact on their health and job satisfaction.
Advances in predictive analytics will make it easier for employers to foresee and prevent safety incidents, but low-probability disasters such as oil rig failures are likely to "defy prediction", according to a US expert on occupational medicine.
