Growing industries across Australia including mining, oil and gas, petrochemical, metallurgy and heavy manufacturing have seen a huge increase in the use of caustic liquids and chemical solvents in the manufacturing and maintenance process of many business. From chemical separations, alkylation, electripolishing, anodising, phosphating, caustic cleaning through to fuel management - all require the material handling of potentially dangerous chemicals that can cause life-threating burns from chemical splash. [ + ]

A specially adapted ‘tactile helmet’, developed by researchers at the University of Sheffield, could provide firefighters operating in challenging conditions with vital clues about their surroundings. [ + ]

One of the challenges many senior leaders express to us is the ability to create a safety speech (or public address) that: isn’t boring, isn’t just a rehash of corporate philosophy or edicts, and demonstrates they genuinely value the safety of their workers ahead of financial, sales or production performance. Kevin Obermuller Managing Partner, Leadership Dimensions explains how. [ + ]

Vaccination programs are being implemented by an increasing number of businesses to minimise the impact the flu will have on their workplace, according to health and safety service provider Medvet. [ + ]

Wood dusts and other contaminants are produced in various tasks commonly carried out both in the workplace and in the home/hobby situation. These materials, if present in high-enough levels, are a respiratory hazard and suitable precautions should be taken. [ + ]

Wormald has installed a comprehensive fire protection solution as part of expansion works at Newcastle’s coal export terminal. [ + ]

Konecranes has been chosen by Yallourn Power Station in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley for crane reliability surveys on cranes due for their recertifications. [ + ]

Cook’s Body Works recently engaged the Melbourne branch of CAPS Australia to assist with sourcing 10 ‘box-type’ portable air compressors that were to be truck mounted for one of its major cable laying and telecoms infrastructure clients. [ + ]

New research appearing online in Clinical Chemistry, the journal of American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC), shows that cannabis can be detected in the blood of daily smokers for a month after last intake. [ + ]

Office workers, truck drivers and couch potatoes beware: a University of Western Sydney study has found that men who spend more than four hours of each day sitting down are more likely to experience chronic disease such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure. [ + ]

Dangerous scaffolding, unsafe work at height and inadequate temporary fencing were just some of the 90 safety breaches WorkSafe inspectors found on housing construction sites across western Victoria last month. [ + ]

Earthquake-related research by the University of Canterbury psychology team in New Zealand may have significant implications for assessments of work readiness. [ + ]

Washington University engineering researchers have created a new type of air-cleaning technology that could better protect human lungs from allergens, airborne viruses and ultrafine particles in the air. [ + ]

Flowcrete’s Deckshield car park decking system has been used in a major redevelopment project, at a retail site in Johannesburg. [ + ]

A national warehousing company solved the issue of workers’ injury risk by implementing a scissor lift table when unloading goods from a high number of pallets each day. [ + ]