Managers failing to think of themselves as "designers" of safe work practices is a major barrier to the effective management of psychological injuries and claims, according to a Safe Work Australia expert.
A supervisor's direction for a worker to breach a "life saving" rule was unreasonable management action that significantly contributed to the worker's psychiatric disorder, a commission has ruled.
Employees working under low-quality supervisors in workplaces where general managerial quality is high are three times more likely than others to develop depressive disorders, according to European researchers.
A supervisor who failed to provide safe access to a workplace has been charged with a category 2 breach of the WHS Act, after a FIFO worker drowned, while two companies have been charged over an incident involving inherited safety procedures and head injuries.
Most employers in two high-risk sectors focus on workers when dealing with musculoskeletal and mental health risks, which is "at odds" with the hierarchy of controls and the need to target sources of risk, according to Australian researchers.
An employer has been ordered to pay nearly $800,000 in damages to a worker who was injured while riding a pallet jack like a scooter, after a superior court found it was vicariously liable for a colleague kicking the jack.
A manager who authorised machine operators to bypass a light curtain, and a worker who sprayed flames on a colleague for a joke, have been fined under section 28 ("Duties of workers") of the WHS Act.
Workers who believe they are treated unfairly at work take more sick leave, but employers can reverse the phenomenon through policy tweaks and cost-effective training for supervisors, according to European researchers.
A worker has been awarded thousands of dollars in weekly benefits and medical expenses for a psychological injury arising from the "chaos" created by her new employer, after the employer failed to attend a tribunal to contest the claim.
A commission has rejected a worker's claim that his supervisor acted unreasonably in telling OHS and HR managers about his Asperger's diagnosis without his consent.
