Shift workers will never fully acclimatise to their schedules, meaning workplace lighting plays a crucial role in keeping them alert and preventing incidents during and after work, a circadian rhythm expert says.
BHP responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by providing "digital personal protective equipment" to staff, expanding its psychological support services and ensuring its 9,000-plus suppliers applied stringent health and safety standards to their own workforces, it claims in its annual report.
A High Court majority has upheld Federal Government and employer appeals against a finding that workers performing 12-hour shifts are entitled to 10 individual days of sick or carer's leave per year under the National Employment Standards.
Compared to day workers, staff who perform rotating shifts are more likely to have irregular eating patterns and eat too much fatty food, with serious metabolism-related implications, a study has found.
COVID-19 work safety measures, like longer roster cycles and shutting onsite facilities where workers socialise, have amplified the already isolating experience of being a fly-in-fly-out worker and could have long-term mental health impacts, according to the head of a major Australian study.
In an important judgment on work journey incidents, in favour of a worker, an appeals court has ruled that the proper liability test is whether employment "increased the risk" of the type of accident that injured a worker, not whether employment "caused" the accident.
Managers in senior WHS roles and other statutory positions will be the only fly-in-fly-out workers permitted to enter Queensland under a new coronavirus control plan. Meanwhile, mining giants BHP and Fortescue have revealed their latest strategies for protecting personnel from the pandemic.
An employer is facing a $2 million-plus damages bill, after a court found its failure to inspect and maintain road surfaces caused a worker's debilitating musculoskeletal injury.
Advances in light technology mean inexpensive ceiling lights can slow the decline of alertness and mental performance during night work, potentially reducing the risk of accidents and injuries, European researchers say.
