Browsing: Injury prevention | Page 1

A company with an entirely remote workforce supports its workers' wellbeing by paying for them to get out of the house and ensuring their designated contactable hours are respected regardless of what time zone they are in.

Australia's WHS and workers' compensation ministers have agreed to: work towards a major asbestos-removal plan targeting commercial buildings; implement WHS provisions to further crack down on silica risks; and reinstate the push for a national approach to protecting the psychological safety of first responders.

• Significant WHS reforms to come with third-phase asbestos plan;
  
• Phased commencement announced for Qld's WHS amendments;
  
• Business charged over customer's mobile-plant death; and
  
• Safety and RTW awards open in Vic.

Psychosocial risk management needs to occur on multiple levels of a company, but "on the ground is where this stuff counts", Deloitte Australia's chief human resources officer says.

Occupational and environmental health researchers have identified a range of workplace safety measures and regulations that could explain their findings that the rate of work-related injuries from fire or smoke has declined over the past two decades, while the non-work-related rate has gone up.

A parliamentary inquiry into vulnerable road users - like pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists - has identified a number of occupations that fit into this category, and made 56 recommendations, including for the development of a "road user hierarchy system" to reverse a hazardous social norm.

Lifestyle changes brought by the shift to working from home are causing the health of many workers to deteriorate, likely through the reduction of the physical effort involved in commuting, and increased snacking, a study of nearly 4,000 workers shows.

• Worker fined $55k for WHS omissions;
  
• Regulator targets psychosocial risks with videos for toolbox talks; and
  
• Burgeoning industry gets first WHS audit.

• Director breached due diligence duties for 18 months;
  
• Decriminalisation Bill improves WHS standards in Qld; and
  
• Social media post exposes workers' comp fraud.

Employers have been urged to create proper onboarding programs for new managers, and give them the skills to manage up, with a large proportion of new middle managers being unprepared for their responsibilities and experiencing burnout.