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October is National Safe Work Month, and this year’s theme is think safe. work safe. be safe.

Being healthy and safe means being free from physical and psychological harm. No job should be unsafe and no death or injury is acceptable. A safe and healthy workplace benefits everyone. Continue reading →

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Injured or ill workers should be empowered to play an active role in their own recovery and return to work through both practical and psychological support, according to two new research reports by Griffith University.

The reports encourage employers to provide their injured workers with greater access to workplace arrangements like flexible schedules, task modifications, graded returns or role changes.

Safe Work Australia has published two research reports by Griffith University under the National Return to Work Strategy 2020-2030:

• Psychological response to injury: Research to support workers’ psychological responses to injury and successful return to work, and
• Stigma towards injured or ill workers: Research on the causes and impact of workplace stigma in the workplace, and approaches to creating positive workplace cultures that support return to work

SWA say the reports provide an evidence base and recommendations on how to meaningfully support workers in their recovery and return to work through building positive workplace cultures and minimising the adverse impacts of stigma and other psychological responses to injury on workers.

The 2018 National Return to Work Survey results showed that:

• of the workers who had returned to work, 36.1% of workers returned to modified hours,
• 32.2% of workers surveyed thought that people at work (including their peers) would treat them differently if they made a workers’ compensation claim, and
• workers who were not concerned about claiming are 3.1 times more likely to return to work.

For more information or to download the report, visit the Safe Work Australia website.

Source: Safe Work Australia, September 2021[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Occupational lung disease continues to be a major work health and safety concern in Australia.

To help raise awareness Safe Work Australia has launched an occupational lung disease awareness campaign which will run until December 2021. Continue reading →

Workers’ compensation claims related to mental stress and harassment and/or bullying have both risen in recent years, according to a recent Safe Work Australia analysis.

It found the frequency rate (claims per 100 million hours worked) of mental stress claims declined from 2002–03 to 2015–16, before rising again in recent years. Continue reading →

To create a better understanding of workers’ exposure to welding fumes in Australia, the NSW Government’s Centre for Work Health and Safety is conducting new research.

Together with the University of Sydney and Curtin University, the Centre is focusing on broadening the knowledge of Australian welding industries and occupations, current controls being used and the effectiveness in risk mitigation. Continue reading →

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The biggest challenge when it comes to systems thinking is a fixation on ‘human error’ and the behaviour of workers at the so-called sharp end when trying to understand and manage safety, according to the University of the Sunshine Coast. Continue reading →