> Regulator releases more details on WHS recklessness case; > Revised WHS Code for first aid adopted by Tas; and > NSW freezes workers' comp premiums for COVID-19 pandemic.
A worker who suffered incapacitating back pain while walking at work has unsuccessfully argued, in an appeals court, that his employment should be characterised as "the" major cause of his condition in the absence of another identified major cause.
The new National Mental Health and Wellbeing Pandemic Response Plan has marked workplaces as key "outreach sites" for tackling COVID-19-related mental health issues, and identified a wide range of worker groups significantly impacted by the pandemic. Meanwhile, employers have been directed to develop COVID-19 safety plans as pandemic restrictions ease.
The surge in working from home arrangements during the COVID-19 pandemic has created an opportunity for sedentary workers to break unhealthy sitting habits and "re-engineer" movement back into their workday, a human movement expert says.
A major employer has escaped liability for a worker's psychological injury, for now, by outlining to a tribunal the steps it allegedly took to protect her health after realising her workload was "probably excessive".
> Employer fined for non-causal failures after fatal fall; > COVID-19 work cluster sparks renewed calls for WHS overhaul; and > COVID-19 safety strategies announced in Tas and NT.
A recidivist union official who entered a workplace to exercise WHS rights without an entry permit has been handed a $10,000 penalty and personal payment order.
Employers have been urged to resist intensifying work demands or ramping up surveillance of workers working at home because of COVID-19, to avoid worsening the mental health challenges already posed by the pandemic. Meanwhile, Tasmania has released a pandemic planning guide for workplaces.
In this latest edition of our long-running quarterly update series, OHS Alert reviews all the key WHS news from the first three months of 2020, including everything you need to know on the COVID-19 pandemic, the findings on Dreamworld's dismal safety systems, caselaw from all jurisdictions, and legislative changes.
