Effectively controlling work-related psychological risks "can only be achieved" through discussions between PCBUs and their workers, according to the Ai Group, which warns against amending the model WHS Regulations to prescribe such control measures.
Workplaces could be heading into a mental illness "epidemic" under current management practices, warns a prominent workplace safety expert, who says resources need to be allocated to quality working conditions immediately.
Australia's first Code of Practice for the mental health of fly-in-fly-out workers, which includes valuable information for multiple industries, has been finalised and released in Western Australia. Meanwhile, a regulator has urged employers to prepare for impending changes to regulations for a hazardous substance.
A worker who claimed his supervisor's flatulence constituted assault that contributed to his injuries has lost his second bid for $1.8 million in damages, with an appeals court finding, among other things, that his former employer's purported lack of OHS and HR policies was irrelevant.
The Federal Court has confirmed that a heated handover meeting unreasonably contributed to a worker's psych injury, but agreed that a tribunal focused too heavily on the operational purpose of the meeting.
The Fair Work Commission has ordered the managing director of a company - issued three bullying-related WHS improvement notices - not to use his lawyers to communicate with a worker, in a suite of stop-bullying orders that clarify the worker's role and who can discipline her.
Injured workers prescribed a combination of opioids and anti-depressants have higher than expected claims costs and lengths, according to a major study identifying warning signs of a costly claim.
In an undecided case highlighting the risk of conflict between company functions, a workers' comp manager has claimed her employer took adverse action against her for making complaints about its national health and safety manager.
The Tasmanian Government has introduced its Australian-first Bill providing presumptive compensation to all public sector workers with PTSD, saying it will consider extending the presumption to more occupational groups, and the laws will reduce the stigma associated with mental health conditions.
Employers are entitled to alter workers' flexible working arrangements to improve their performance, but one manager's hasty attempt to do so was unreasonable, a tribunal has found in an injury dispute.
