Browsing: Manual handling | Page 27

Employers must consider previously unthought-of hazards - such as typing and handling mail - when conducting risk assessments, or risk breaching the manual task provisions of the harmonised WHS Regulations, according to a specialist workplace lawyer.

Employers that rely on safe-lifting training to control the risks associated with manual tasks could be in breach of safety laws, Queensland's OHS regulator has warned.

WorkCover NSW and WorkSafe Victoria have clarified the alarming cost of workers' compensation claims for stress, industrial deafness and musculoskeletal disorders, and outlined what they plan to do to help employers reduce them.

The Queensland Supreme Court has upheld a District Court decision and awarded $240,000 in damages to a secretary who was injured lifting a box of paper, after it rejected her employer's claim the lift was an "ordinary task".

The Heads of Workplace Safety Authorities (HWSA) have from four comprehensive campaigns found that many employers are failing to ensure forklift and scaffolding work and manual tasks are performed safely, and are calling on businesses to promote higher-order controls.

In this article, OHS Alert reports on high-risk licences, fatality reports, safety alerts, contractor guidelines that will apply from 1 July, and other OHS news from across the country.

A Queensland employer should have assessed the risk of lifting a five kilogram canister, even though it was just one of the thousands of pieces of small equipment regularly handled by its staff, the Court of Appeal has ruled in awarding an injured worker $640,000 in damages.

A Victorian employer could have eliminated a host of "self-evident" manual handling risks through the introduction of cheap and convenient alternative processes, the Supreme Court has found in awarding an injured worker nearly $1.4 million in damages.

WorkSafe Victoria develops "seven pillars" for easier OHS; and TNT sets "new benchmark" for safer workplaces.

Injuries caused by biomechanical demands, such as repetitive hand movements or heavy lifting, cost Australian business $361 million a year in compensation payments - and 99 per cent of employees are at risk, according to new Safe Work Australia research.