A team of sleep disorder experts has identified a simple strategy for sleeping between night shifts that can reduce the risk of fatigue and safety incidents at work.
Australian guidance dealing with heat stroke in the workplace is missing the "golden standard" treatment, with potentially alarming implications for the health of workers, according to a workplace heat stress expert.
The very act of formalising a workplace mental health strategy can improve employee wellbeing and organisational culture, according to research commissioned by the Australian Industry Group and including six business case studies, which identifies job design as an overlooked wellbeing tool.
Workplace social structures and worksite "champions" can be leveraged to protect transient or temporary staff like contract or labour-hire workers, who are more vulnerable to health and safety hazards than permanent workers, researchers say.
One in three Australian workers who sustain a physical injury experience serious secondary mental illnesses, but few of these people access mental health services that could accelerate their recovery and return to work, according to a study.
Safe Work Australia members have agreed to start transitioning to a new chemical safety system within six months, while SWA has released a practical guide to managing ultraviolet radiation risks and a 60-page workers' comp report, and a WHS regulator has outlined safety duties relating to poor air quality.
Exposure to certain occupational fumes can double the risk of workers contracting invasive pneumonia-causing infections, and affected workers should be offered vaccines, researchers say.
The vast majority of workers with disabilities, health conditions or injuries are motivated to retain, secure or return to suitable employment, but necessary work accommodations are rare, and outcomes are stymied by stigma and discrimination, according to a major report on empowering workers.
A leading workplace heat stress consultant has warned of the effects of "heat hangover", which causes workers in warm workplaces to experience the same symptoms they would after consuming excessive amounts of alcohol, and could account for the spike in incidents during hotter months.
