A worker who claimed his managers bullied him for not saying hello to colleagues did not suffer a compensable psychological injury, according to a tribunal, which found the man's condition was caused by his "inherent maladaptive personality characteristics".
Work-focused support programs can help workers with common mental disorders return to work, but employers should be aware of the ethical considerations arising from their use, researchers say.
A right-of-entry dispute surrounding the Australian Taxation Office's new rules for permit holders has confirmed that occupational health and safety requirements "can condition the exercise of entry rights".
The Federal Government has committed millions of dollars to enforcing the impending WHS ban on engineered stone at the border, and conducting a comprehensive review of the Commonwealth jurisdiction's workers' compensation laws, under a "safer workplaces" package in its 2024-25 budget.
Safe Work Australia's deemed diseases list has been amended to add two cancer and job exposure pairs, and to remove COVID-19, on the basis that the virus "has become so widespread in the community that infection in a particular occupational setting cannot be confidently assumed to have been due to that occupation".
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.
A union and an offical who successfully appealed against a ruling on a WHS requirement at a worksite have been handed higher right-of-entry fines, by a full Federal Court, than the ones they received before they appealed.