Workers who don't believe they are provided with adequate PPE are at risk of post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health conditions that can erode their ability to work safely, a study of service personnel operating in COVID-19-like environments has shown.
With the dramatic swing to working-from-home arrangements and new work technologies because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a Comcare "emerging evidence alert" has highlighted new research on the connection between technology acceptance, engagement and wellbeing.
A sweeping review has highlighted the link between prolonged sitting and standing at work and lower limb venous diseases like varicose veins and potentially deadly deep vein thrombosis, which the researchers say warrants intervention.
A significant proportion of adult asthma cases can be attributed to workplace triggers and workers can develop the illness in as little as two years, a US study spanning five decades has found. The researchers say the results underscore the need for employers to reduce exposures and monitor staff.
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.
Mistrust from supervisors and IT hassles are common experiences among workers suffering psychological distress while working from home under COVID-19 restrictions, a survey of more than 1,100 Australian workers has found.
The increasing focus on risk reduction measures in work safety laws and practices over the last 20 years has failed to reduce the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders, with digitalisation and automation increasing mental stress and muscle tension, and forcing some workers into "machine-paced roles", a major research review has found.
> Workers from four sectors targeted in Vic's COVID-19 blitz; > Coronavirus affecting "tolerance to risk", warns NSW regulator; and > SWA and WA issue new COVID-19 guides and warnings.
Workers working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic are having varying experiences, and some, like those simultaneously home-schooling their kids, are likely to be struggling, a workplace researcher says. She says employers must be on top of the personal factors affecting remote workers' health.
