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Australia's various workers' compensation schemes are likely to be significantly amended or completely overhauled, to reflect recommendations from a first-of-its-kind study using the experiences of injured workers to design a new compensation system.

Workers denying not getting enough sleep, and fearing being exposed as having sleep issues, are two of four barriers that need to be addressed to implement an effective sleep health program for white-collar workers, the authors of a global study say.

Employers need to be more strategic when planning work schedules and rest times to "reduce physical and mental overload", according to safety experts, who found the widespread problem of lower back pain tends to build up across consecutive work days.

Significant amendments were made to workplace health and safety laws in every Australian jurisdiction in the third quarter of 2023, including many increasing penalties and making it easier to prosecute duty holders. This major report - the only one of its kind in the country - examines all the need-to-know legislative changes, workers' compensation developments and court decisions from July, August and September.

The extended use of work-related electronic communication (WREC) during non-work hours worsens fatigue and depression and results in unhealthily high levels of alertness before bed, according to researchers, who advise promoting the "right to disconnect".

New evidence suggests workplace managers can do a better job at screening workers for mental health issues than traditional screening tools, which have questionable benefits for mental health, according to trauma experts from the UK and Australia.

Combined individual- and organisation-level interventions are the most effective strategies to reduce exhaustion and occupational burnout, a new study shows.

• Record-shattering fatality fines upheld by Supreme Court; and
  
• Annual workplace fatality toll increases, 1,850 killed in 10 years.

Employers have been urged to consider the multiplicative effects that exposure to multiple occupational hazards - ranging from night work and noise to solvents and heavy metals - have on the development of one of the world's most common serious health conditions, with a unique study finding the risks arise even with low-level exposures.

Workers are at high risk of developing long-term mental health problems like post-traumatic stress disorder and depression when exposed to trauma, morally injurious events and institutional betrayal, which often involves organisational inaction, a study has found.