BHP is working with contractors to tackle the persistent problem of noise-induced hearing loss, and enhancing its dust controls after seven current and former employees were diagnosed with the incurable disease black lung, the mining giant claims in its latest sustainability report.
A worker has been denied compensation for industrial deafness, after he failed to prove his regular exposure to loud alarms exceeded the exposure threshold for noise.
Epidemiologist Professor Tim Driscoll has outlined the major current and emerging workplace health and safety issues for Australia and other Oceanian nations, in an Oxford University journal.
A worker has been awarded workers' compensation for tinnitus arising from the use of headsets, following a "common-sense evaluation" of the evidence, while another worker has been refused compensation for hearing loss incurred at employer-provided accommodation.
A major employer has failed to convince a commission that it is not liable for occupational hearing loss sustained by an employee more than 25 years ago.
A worker has been denied compensation for tinnitus after the AAT found there was little more than a temporal connection between her employment and her condition. The Tribunal has also rejected a hand-injury claim after hearing there is no scientific evidence linking keyboard use to carpal tunnel syndrome.
An Australian study has found employees who work in a new "active design building" spend less time sitting and have less lower back pain, but are more concerned by noise levels.
