The implementation of AI or generative AI tools within workplaces can impact both the perception and existence of psychosocial risks at work, according to RMIT.
Emergency service personnel and other professionals who are responsible for responding to incidents on high-speed roads experience higher fatality and incident rates, and also suffer from higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder compared to the general population.
NT WorkSafe recently issued a safety alert for electrical workers and residents to exercise caution when accessing meter boxes fitted with older style meters found in homes built before 2014. The alert was issued after Power and Water Service personnel have reported finding a number of heat damaged service fuse holders in meter boxes in territory homes.
For organisations looking to shift from lagging safety indicators to leading indicators, they must first address their preparedness, priorities and safety culture maturity level, according to recent research. Specifically, leading indicators must be adopted with a systems-thinking approach where they are developed and used in a work context involving people and technology, rather than merely focusing on human behaviour or identifying leading indicators for machinery or plant.
Although most businesses strive to do the right thing by their employees and reduce psychosocial risks, the complexity of this task means most organisations are still struggling to comprehensively address workplace mental health challenges, according to the Black Dog Institute.
WorkSafe Victoria recently announced that employers and those responsible for prescribed equipment used outside of workplaces must notify the regulators of certain incidents involving a broader range of machinery. Importantly, high-risk machinery in common use such as tractors, quad bikes, forklifts, excavators and mining and quarrying equipment are now included.
There are four key factors which improve psychosocial safety: top management support for stress prevention; prioritising worker psychological health over productivity and profits; better communication systems about risks and prevention; and better consultation with workers and all levels of the organisation in resolving risks, according to the University of South Australia.
Australia Post recently urged dog owners to properly secure their dogs as it revealed that more than 55 posties have fallen victim to dog-related incidents every working week. Despite Australia Post’s pleas for more action from dog owners, more than 1420 dog-related incidents have occurred in Australia in the past six months. While no dog breed is more likely to attack than another, Australia Post said it is increasingly seeing smaller dogs that show aggressive behaviour.
Australia loses 41,194 work years annually due to work-related injury, disease and mental health conditions – the equivalent of more than 41,000 lost jobs – according to Monash University research. Published in the Medical Journal of Australia, the study aimed to quantify the national burden of working time lost to compensable occupational injury and disease and how working time lost is distributed across age, sex, injury and disease.
ACT: repeat offenders in residential construction on notice There has been little change in safety behaviours and recurrent non-compliance by a number of residential construction businesses in the ACT, despite repeated enforcement notices and engagement with WorkSafe ACT inspectors, according to the regulator.
