Browsing: Emerging risks | Page 6

The effectiveness of workplace safety management practices applied to chemicals requires urgent verification, according to preventive medicine researchers, who have found that working in premises where regulated chemicals are handled is associated with a high risk of developing cancer.

A near-decade-long study has found that workers with risk factors for cardiovascular disease can be up to 17 times more likely to develop carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow, golfer's elbow or rotator cuff tendinitis.

This week's resignation of the Western Australian Premier, who cited exhaustion, underscores that employers need strong safety systems to prevent burnout in leaders, including avenues for staff to raise concerns if their managers are showing symptoms, a senior HR and management academic says.

Researchers have called for "crucial" preventative strategies for workers struggling with asthma, and have identified jobs and chemicals that escalate the risk of one of the most common cancers among male workers.

European researchers have identified factors that increase the likelihood of workers contracting the flu, and the occupations most vulnerable to infection.

Tension, hostility, overwork and decision-making difficulties are some of the psychological impacts climate change and extreme weather can have on the workplace, according to research psychologists, who urge employers to consider what they can do to support workers with "eco-anxiety".

• Employers and supervisors told how to reduce harmful injury stigma; and
  
• WHS charges include alleged Australian Standards breach.

Workplace "technostressors", such as information overload, are significantly associated with the symptoms of burnout, according to researchers, who suggest better prevention and intervention tactics are needed to address the risks of technology-related stress.

Constant long working hours, changes in the content and quantity of work, and harassment, are all contributing to "death from overwork", an alarming study has found.

Poor adherence to safety regulations and exposure to diesel emissions - even at levels below recommended thresholds - have been linked, by two studies, to an increased risk of injuries and biological changes that can lead to cancer.