Employers will be explicitly required to add "critical controls", as defined in international guidelines, to their safety management systems, under legislative amendments aimed at "facilitating the growth in high-reliability organisational (HRO) behaviour" in the resources sector.
Injured workers, and their employers, will be better protected from costly secondary psychological injuries by new provisions requiring insurers to actively provide early intervention services. The provisions are included in a Queensland Bill, which also creates Australia's longest list of cancers presumed, for workers' comp purposes, to be caused by firefighting duties.
Workplace cultures that promulgate the image of "bulletproof" workers that need to be tough to do their jobs can magnify the "insidious" effects of vicarious trauma, a top complex trauma expert says.
Employers will be required to cooperate and communicate with labour-hire providers on suitable employment options for injured workers, under a South Australian Bill that also includes special arrangements for self-insured companies, and enhances benefits for those with dust diseases and terminal illnesses.
Up to half of working parents in Australia are experiencing psychologically harmful workplace discrimination, showing policies delivering inclusivity for those with caring responsibilities are urgently needed, researchers say.
Glowing safety audit reports often precede major safety disasters, showing organisations need "loud" indicators to signal when audits are failing, an HSE leader says.
