> WHS regulator issues Christmas party warning and safety alert; > New WHS Code of Practice introduced in Qld; > Safety inspectors' powers increase with passing of OPGGS Bill; > Journey claims restored by NSW private member's Bill; and > New WorkSafe Vic chief and chair announced.
Head contractors on Commonwealth-funded projects cannot satisfy the requirement to conduct a minimum number of random drug and alcohol tests each month by counting pre-employment or for-cause tests, a fitness-for-work audit program has highlighted.
An inquest into two deaths has called for industry bodies to address the link between long hours and the high suicide rate in the veterinary profession, and highlighted the "uneducated" and "nonsensical" arguments against restricting access to a deadly workplace substance.
An employer has been found not liable for an injured worker's suicide, which his widow claims was caused by using cannabis to cope with the pain from his work injury.
Laboratory tests of workers' hair for drugs can't differentiate active drug use from environmental contamination, and should only be used as "complementary information", according to expert evidence highlighted in an important unfair dismissal case.
> Identify and control workplace methamphetamine risks; > Dust blitz includes surprise visits, WHS notice blocks vehicle use; and > Mobile scaffold warning issued after fatality.
A judge has highlighted four serious concerns with an employer's drug and alcohol policy, in ruling that an injured worker wasn't guilty of serious and wilful misconduct in refusing to undergo a urine test ahead of his return to work.
Excessive prescription of opioid medication is doubling the risk of long-term disability among injured workers, and highlights the need for workers' compensation schemes to take urgent action, says a leading occupational health researcher.
> Transition to new chemical safety system starting soon; > New safety and rehab regulations made for ADF members; and > Rail safety functions and drug rules in Vic transferred to ONRSR.
A worker's bowel dysfunction resulted from taking opioid medication Panadeine Forte for a work injury, a tribunal has ruled in dismissing claims that his dose wasn't high enough to cause the condition.
