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.
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.
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.
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.
A study of frontline COVID-19 workers has found psychological training and guidance can turn distressing experiences into positive personal growth, reducing the adverse effects of traumatic work events.
> COVID work restrictions eased slightly in Vic, with UK lesson; > Comcare updates transition-to-usual-work guidance; and > Industrial manslaughter laws demanded for Tas WHS Act.
A WHS regulator has identified the absence of adequate controls for preventing three-metre-plus falls as a major area of non-compliance in the high-risk construction sector. It has also, coincidentally, accepted a PCBU's bid to enter an enforceable undertaking after a worker fell four metres.
The Black Dog Institute is seeking people who are not coping well after the tumultuous events of 2020, to participate in a trial of its new home digital counselling program.
> West Gate Bridge anniversary sends work safety message; > PCBU failed to enforce exclusion zones; and > Safety blitz moves to next Canberra suburb, issues 31 notices.
