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The Australian Institute of Health & Safety (AIHS) has announced plans to create the Australian Workplace Health & Safety Awards (AWHSA), and is now accepting submissions.  The awards will provide national recognition to organisations and individuals who are demonstrating excellence and innovation in the field of Workplace Health & Safety. The inaugural awards will beRead more

Current and past FIFO workers are being urged to anonymously share their experience in a short online survey, as part of an author’s ongoing research into FIFO mental health. A 2018 study found one-third of FIFO workers in the resource sector experience high levels of psychological distress, a number double the rate of the generalRead more

Mentally healthy workplaces are as important to employees as physically safe ones. But how do you get there? A lot of employers have the desire to do more for their employees’ well-being but get overwhelmed by the number of resources and information that’s available. Context We spend a lot of time at work. Approximately one-thirdRead more

The UK’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published its latest health and safety statistics for Great Britain, including information on fatalities, accidents and illnesses by occupation, industry, region and country. In 2018/19, 145 UK workers were fatally injured at work, a rate of 0.44 fatalities per 100,000 workers. The HSE notes that over theRead more

Victorians are being asked to keep a lookout for dodgy operators and to whistleblow on employers that may be storing or handling dangerous goods in a way that is putting the community at risk. In August, Victoria’s Dangerous Goods Amendment (Penalty Reform) Bill 2019 was introduced into Parliament – a Bill that would see ‘rogueRead more

Employers across Australia are being urged to guard against the effects of extreme temperatures in the workplace following a forecast of above-average temperatures this summer. The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) recently issued its summer outlook, in which it forecasted daytime temperatures “very likely to be above average over virtually all of Australia”. WorkSafe WA CommissionerRead more

The UK’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has clarified its criteria for investigating work-related stress concerns following an increase in the number of complaints and widespread industry confusion. “As awareness of WRS and mental ill-health increases, the amount of concerns raised with HSE also increases. Many of these are not appropriate for HSE or LocalRead more

Long work hours, workplace isolation, and inadequate supervision and training can increase the likelihood that workers turn to drugs like methamphetamine, according to the WA Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS). The DMIRS outlines several other drug abuse risk factors in its latest edition of ThinkSafe, including poor job suitability, workplace culture, andRead more

USA: OSHA has announced changes to its enforcement weighting system and it says it will now consider a number of factors when considering the impact of a workplace safety inspection. Under the current enforcement weighting system initiated in 2015, OSHA weights certain inspections based on the time taken to complete the inspection or, in someRead more

Safe Work Australia is urging employers and workers to get behind National Safe Work Month, which begins in October, and has released resources and information to assist. This year’s theme is “Be a Safety Champion” and SWA is encouraging both employers and workers from any occupation or industry to be champions for work health andRead more