Browsing: Jurisdiction (National) | Page 356

In this update, OHS Alert examines the most important workplace safety and workers' comp news from the third quarter of 2014, including Safe Work Australia's controversial decision to dump draft Codes of Practice in favour of guidance packages, and other legislative developments.

The UK's much-vaunted "fit notes" are helping employers get injured employees back to work sooner, but they come with problems of their own, a study has found.

The Australian Mines and Metals Association has outlined how FIFO employers can improve site safety through their recruitment processes.

Two workers who were sacked for failing to identify a seriously damaged hoist rope during pre-start checks of a tower crane have been awarded compensation, even though their conduct could have had "catastrophic safety implications".

A major mining company that introduced 12 "life-saving choices" under its fatality-prevention program has reduced its total recordable injury frequency rate by 21 per cent, but two of its contractors were killed in 2013-14.

An employer that holds lunchtime yoga sessions, and encourages workers to volunteer for a community initiative during business hours, has reduced absenteeism and increased productivity.

Many Australian workers believe employers are 'letting them down' by not taking health and wellbeing seriously, while nearly one in four workers in some industries believe their jobs are making them ill, a new study has found.

• Exposure to vehicle exhaust damaging workers' DNA; and
  
• Fatality reports released as national work toll tops 135.

Employers are being reminded, on World Mental Health Day today, that they will receive an average return of $2.30 for every dollar they invest in workplace mental health initiatives, while those that do nothing are likely to have higher absence and claims rates.

A new Safe Work Australia report has found that regulators conducted 135,000 workplace visits and handed out nearly 47,000 notices in 2012-13, but the number of reactive visits is decreasing in some jurisdictions.