Browsing: Emerging risks

As a union steps up its fight against proposed WHS amendments targeting NSW workers, European researchers have called for "legal co-responsibility" provisions to discourage employment arrangements that pressure workers to take safety risks on public roads.

Tighter workplace exposure thresholds and product bans are needed to curb Australia's growing silicosis rate, according to the ACTU. Meanwhile, workplaces are being urged to address parking locations in their safety plans, after a worker was killed by a light vehicle.

Ill-considered decisions on the COVID-19 vaccination, and on whether it should be mandatory for workers, could result in employers facing costly discrimination, harassment and bullying claims, a leading workplace advisor has warned.

• Workplace safety regulator issues beard warning; and
  
• Union and officials accused of safety and social distancing breaches.

It is more pressing than ever to tackle the safety challenges of remote work arrangements and make a business case for telework infrastructure, a peak workplace safety body says.

New ways of working are emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic and providing opportunities to improve workers' work-life balance and fatigue levels, but they must be provided with the skills to match the evolved workplace, an ex-US military sleep researcher says.

A study of 16 years of workers' comp data has foreshadowed that as Australia moves out of a recession triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic there will be a surge of workplace injuries, highlighting the importance of resilient safety strategies.

A security and counter terrorism expert has highlighted the WHS duty to prepare and maintain workplace emergency plans, in urging employers to ensure their plans match modern threats, and to check the real-life experience of emergency consultants and trainers.

• Online abuse addressed in new WHS guides; and
  
• ATO wins major WHS award for COVID-19 strategy.

Employers have been urged to take special care to adapt work tasks for their older employees in physically demanding jobs, after a major European study conclusively showed these workers are far more likely to experience long-term sickness absences.