Browsing: Return to work and rehabilitation | Page 12

A commission has admonished a worker, who was dismissed after repeatedly failing to attend independent medical examinations, for engaging in a "game of semantics" around her employer's requests and stymying its attempts to ensure she was fit to return to work.

• Businesses warned after employer cops three OHS fines; and
  
• Director fined for blocking pregnant worker's RTW.

More than a third of workers who suffer a work injury will sustain a further injury within a short period of time, according to New Zealand researchers, who say their findings reveal an "important intervention point" for preventing incidents and reducing injury rates.

A project examining cases of work-related post-traumatic stress disorder, in supposedly low-risk occupations, has warned that women often experience hostile behaviour and even "mobbing" when they return to work from maternity or sick leave.

A commission has upheld the dismissal of a psychologically injured whistleblower, after finding the return-to-work "adjustments" required by her doctor were actually "outcomes", and not warranted.

• RTW pressures contribute to work injury;
  
• Lag and lead indicators underpin national RTW plan; and
  
• Safety guidelines for electrical-asset neighbours made in WA.

• COVID-19 transition plans must cover WHS and critical functions;
  
• ACT seeks to boost workers' mental health in pandemic; and
  
• NSW introduces Bill for new work injury dispute system.

Workers returning from COVID-19-related working-from-home set-ups have valuable insights on how to optimise workspaces for their wellbeing, which employers can capitalise on to make workplaces healthier and less stressful, a building and workplace design expert says.

The Fair Work Commission has admonished a large employer's human resources department and recommended it improve its practices, after a worker's stop-bullying application demonstrated the difficulties workers face when HR isn't actively involved in matters like injury management.

The new National Mental Health and Wellbeing Pandemic Response Plan has marked workplaces as key "outreach sites" for tackling COVID-19-related mental health issues, and identified a wide range of worker groups significantly impacted by the pandemic. Meanwhile, employers have been directed to develop COVID-19 safety plans as pandemic restrictions ease.