Browsing: Psychological injuries | Page 86

A sacked worker's adverse action claim has been dismissed, after a court found he unreasonably "shut down" all communication between himself and his employer while suffering a psychological illness, and failed to attend a medical assessment.

An international survey has identified a dramatic shift in the types of work-related health problems seen by occupational medical specialists in Australia and other countries, with "traditional" problems like lung disease being overtaken by an epidemic of stress and burnout.

• Regulator outlines worker suicide risk signs; and
  
• Employer faces further fines under pregnancy-related charges.

A worker's compensable depressive disorder, which resulted from a workplace investigation, was a significant contributing cause of his subsequent heart attack, an employment tribunal has found.

• Employers told to avoid asbestos tester; and
  
• Work safety regulator appoints mental health inspector.

Injured workers will be entitled to two lump sum payments, insurers will be subjected to tighter surveillance guidelines and disputes will be resolved in a "one stop shop", under recommendations from a parliamentary inquiry into the NSW workers' comp scheme.

The NSW Court of Appeal has quashed a world-first ruling (and $5 million damages award) that a worker's post-traumatic stress disorder was a "bodily injury" and compensable under international law.

An injured worker is exempt from time caps on weekly workers' comp payments, despite his certification for an exempted occupation lapsing before he was injured, an appeals court has found.

Dealing with workers' mental health issues takes more than "yoga and fruit bowls", according to a National Mental Health Commissioner, who has outlined strategies for improving mental wellbeing in the workplace.

A worker has been refused permission to extend and alter his rehabilitation program, with his pre-redundancy employer, to help him obtain the same level of employment as his pre-injury management role.