An appeals commission has rejected a worker's claim that his heart condition and attack were aggravated entirely by his "heavy" work tasks, after hearing his duties were suitable for a "not very fit" employee.
About half of all manual handling tasks require potentially hazardous pushing and pulling motions. Physical therapy experts have identified optimal methods to reduce spinal load and prevent musculoskeletal injuries from these tasks.
The increasing focus on risk reduction measures in work safety laws and practices over the last 20 years has failed to reduce the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders, with digitalisation and automation increasing mental stress and muscle tension, and forcing some workers into "machine-paced roles", a major research review has found.
A tribunal has rejected a worker's claim that she continued to suffer from a 2007 work injury because surgery that alleviated her condition permanently "changed the architecture" of her spine.
An employer has unsuccessfully argued, on appeal, that it isn't liable for a worker's shoulder injuries, which she sustained performing a lifting task she had raised concerns about.
A major review has highlighted the risks involved in performing lifting tasks at work while pregnant, and that such risks should be mitigated through pregnancy policies.
An employer has been convicted for failing to take measures against workers being injured in the "shadow" zone of falling objects, after a worker was crushed by a 400kg steel coil.
A medical panel denied a worker procedural fairness when it went outside the "parameters" of his injury dispute to find his traumatic experience as a refugee caused his psychological injury, a superior court has found in rejecting an employer's appeal.
Workplaces continue to react to musculoskeletal injuries rather than implementing primary prevention interventions, inhibiting the reduction of work-related musculoskeletal disorders, according to WorkSafe WA's human factors and ergonomics principal scientific officer.
