Workplace incidents will continue to occur unless employees are engaged through consultation and executives resist over-relying on "leading" indicators, according to a global environmental and sustainability consultancy's NSW health and safety manager.
Smoking-cessation support programs and smoke-free worksite policies are just two steps employers can take to reduce absences linked to smoking-related health problems, according to a Tasmanian toolkit.
Toll Group reveals six-step response to s-xual harassment complaint; Vigilance urged in Queensland after report points to high work death rate; and Major ACT inquiry prompted by construction deaths commences.
Dozens of Australian employers are tackling worker absences through KPIs and wellbeing programs, according to Direct Health Solutions, whose latest survey has found the telecommunications and utilities sector has the highest sickies rate.
The Queensland Government has hinted, ahead of roundtable discussion with industry groups, that it will trust businesses to "do the right thing" on OHS under a less prescriptive WHS Act. It has also "streamlined" health and safety laws for the mining sector.
Australian researchers have called for offices to be redesigned to stimulate physical activity, after they found advances in office ergonomics over the last 30 years have done little to reduce the high rate of neck pain and other musculoskeletal symptoms among desk workers.
Company officers are obligated - under the model WHS Act - to monitor such "future trends" as the health risks associated with excessive mobile phone use, two OHS law experts say in an analysis of the Act's due diligence requirements.
Employers are being encouraged to pledge their support for a new national anti-racism strategy, and improve their legal compliance and competitive advantage in the process.
An OHS lawyer has warned that it's "very easy to get it wrong" when it comes to managing ill or injured workers, and outlined eight points employers should consider when taking on the task.