Resources companies have been urged to implement a string of extra precautions to protect fly-in-fly-out and drive-in-drive-out workers, in camps or "on the move", from COVID-19. Meanwhile, ACT employers have been directed to conduct coronavirus risk assessments and ensure their contractors comply with hygiene rules.
Delineating tasks and separating teams are some of the many strategies a Singaporean hospital is taking to protect frontline workers from coronavirus, shedding light on how to prevent the occupational transmission of the disease.
Disposable and reusable respirators play a crucial role in protecting workers from hazardous substances, but the fit-testing process can actually expose them to viruses like COVID-19, meaning employers must implement special fit-testing measures for the pandemic, the UK Health and Safety Executive has warned.
Laws establishing a new safety regulator and transferring "serious" resources cases to the Work Health and Safety Prosecutor have passed in Queensland, with amendments. Meanwhile, a timely Bill mandating vaccinations for healthcare workers has passed in Victoria.
NSW has issued advice on commuting safely to work during the COVID-19 pandemic, while both NSW and Victoria have introduced tough penalties for those who breach new isolation orders, and Western Australia has announced special leave arrangements for public servants affected by the coronavirus, in a bid to maintain safe working environments and reduce the spread of the disease.
With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing social distancing measures and many workers to work from home, often at very short notice, employers must remember they have a duty to ensure working environments in homes and elsewhere are healthy and safe, a senior safety lawyer says in this Q&A with OHS Alert.
In a significant development, given the recent safety scandals involving the importation and use of asbestos-containing materials, the model WHS Act has been amended to make it mandatory for regulators to issue notices when they believe "prohibited asbestos" is present at a workplace, with maximum fines of $500,000 for those that fail to comply with a notice.
