Promoting healthy diets among workers can have a positive impact on safety performance, according to researchers, who found truck drivers who eat more vegetables and coarse grains are less likely to exhibit dangerous driving.
Sleep problems not only erode workers' cognitive abilities but also how they control their emotions, creating health and safety risks during emotionally challenging events, according to researchers calling for "sleep leadership" in workplaces.
A major employer's proposed alcohol restrictions for remote locations are unlikely to endanger workers' mental health, but the company should consult with unions on alternative measures before implementing the rules, the Fair Work Commission has found.
Workers whose body clocks favour evenings are at a significantly greater risk of "poor work ability", suggesting "morningness-eveningness" questionnaires should influence workplace health promotions and scheduling, researchers say.
A major company has been ordered to pay more than $1.2 million in damages to a worker, after he sustained disabling injuries falling into a hidden ditch because of the company's failure to mark or cordon off the hole, or remove the need to access the area.
Night shift workers are significantly more likely to engage in "extreme" drinking behaviour than other staff, warranting workplace interventions providing self-monitoring strategies and sleep education to prevent the associated WHS risks, researchers say.
Two sleep studies have highlighted the prevalence of work stress-related insomnia symptoms, the risks associated with workers taking sleeping pills to fall asleep and the need for interventions that promote the safe use of these hypnotic drugs.
Shift workers will never fully acclimatise to their schedules, meaning workplace lighting plays a crucial role in keeping them alert and preventing incidents during and after work, a circadian rhythm expert says.
BHP responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by providing "digital personal protective equipment" to staff, expanding its psychological support services and ensuring its 9,000-plus suppliers applied stringent health and safety standards to their own workforces, it claims in its annual report.
A High Court majority has upheld Federal Government and employer appeals against a finding that workers performing 12-hour shifts are entitled to 10 individual days of sick or carer's leave per year under the National Employment Standards.