Comcare will roll out a low-intensity cognitive behaviour therapy program to up to 120,000 Commonwealth employees over the next two years, while continuing to provide mental health first-aid training to its own workers, its 2019-20 annual report shows.
Two employers that failed to identify and rectify a step that didn't comply with Australian Standards have been ordered to pay damages to a worker who sustained injuries descending the step.
The World Health Organisation's workplace health and safety guidelines for COVID-19 are "unacceptably complacent" in parts and overlook evidence on workplace outbreaks, according to an occupational health academic, who fills in some of the "gaps".
The NSW WHS Act will be amended to impose new duties on PCBUs that "provide food delivery services", if an Opposition Bill (which forms part of a broader safety strategy for gig workers) passes Parliament. Meanwhile, Tasmanian employers have been told to "stay COVID safe" as border restrictions ease.
Western Australia has taken a critical step closer to implementing industrial manslaughter laws and joining the harmonised WHS regime, with its Work Health and Safety Bill 2019 passing the Upper House with amendments last night.
Social media denoting COVID-19 as a "killer virus" creates a sense of danger and distress among frontline workers. Employers should reduce these mental health risks by providing more consistent information and better training, researchers say.
> Employer fined in latest action on coffee burns; > Labour-hire workers not properly trained; and > PCBU and directors fined for disregarding asbestos regulations.
A senior worker's failure to communicate effectively with other workers on managing the hazards of an injury-causing task provided a valid reason for his dismissal, a commission has found.
A major government employer's attempt to return an injured worker to full duties was an "abject failure" that caused the man to suffer mental injuries, a tribunal has found. It found the employer misapplied an independent medical examination report in its "unyielding" efforts to deny the man sick leave.
This article examines all the must-know workplace safety, workers' compensation and COVID-19 developments from July, August and September 2020, with highlights including a new WHS Code for the pandemic, the Dreamworld judgment, a record double-fatality fine and gross negligence cases.
