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.
SafeWork SA recently issued a safety alert following incidents in which machinery has hit live powerlines or scaffolds being built within safe clearance distances. SafeWork SA has received ten notifications so far this year after scaffolds or plant encroached safe clearance distances to underground or overhead utilities.
Workplace Health and Safety Queensland inspectors will begin auditing businesses operating from buildings constructed before 1990 and those likely containing asbestos to ensure compliance with asbestos regulations. The audit, which will run from 1 August until 31 October 2024, will focus on the requirements for asbestos registers and management plans.
Despite economic headwinds, the HSE job market in Australia has remained remarkably resilient compared to other sectors, according to The Safe Step’s latest HSE Job Opportunities Index. While HSE job opportunities have softened, they remain 58 per cent higher than five years ago (well above pre-COVID levels). Queensland now holds the second-largest share of HSE job opportunities, at 27 per cent, driven by significant investments in infrastructure, energy projects, and resources.
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.
There has been a 47.5 per cent increase in primary psychological injury claims from 2019 to 2023 under Allianz Australia’s national claims portfolio. These claims are also resulting in 29.9 per cent increase in average claims costs and 30.2 per cent increase in time loss, equating to some 655,000 days of absence in the Allianz portfolio alone, according to Brianna Cattanach, national manager for mental health at Allianz Australia.
