When it comes to working at heights, simplicity equals safety. It’s easy to be seduced by high-tech harnesses but the acid test for your height safety equipment is whether it can be used by anybody.

Safety professionals as well as business operators across different industry sectors and geographies are increasingly realising the significance of technology in workplace safety.

The recent decision by the Minimum Wage Panel of Fair Work Australia increases minimum wage rates by 3.4% and the default casual loading for award and agreement free employees from 21% to 22%.

WorkSafe Victoria has released a new guide on the use of angle grinders after 31 serious workplace injuries involving them.

GRW Industries’ CoolMe vest is a cooling garment to limit the effects of heat stress and promote rapid recovery for workers in extreme heat conditions.

The decision about a suitable workplace drug testing method can be a difficult one for many safety sensitive industries, according to an Australian supplier of drug and alcohol screening programs, Medvet Laboratories.

Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital is currently undergoing a $1.07bn redevelopment that will consolidate 53 buildings into modern purpose-built facilities.

Eye protection in the workplace is an essential part of the growing health and safety issues seen across all Australian industries.

WorkCover NSW has published a safety alert after a worker suffered fatal injuries when a plenum made from EPS panels collapsed while he was working in a blast freezer.

Safe Work Australia, an Australian Government statutory agency, has released a research report on carbon nanotubes.

The Model Work Health and Safety Act will commence in each jurisdiction in Australia from 1 January 2012. A key change to be made by the Model Act will be to move away from reliance on the employment relationship as the determinant of who has duties and obligations and who is to be protected from risks to their health or safety.

The following article gives guidelines for choosing the right PID for particular applications.

It is naive to think employers are going to spend money on anything that is not justified, including OHS, and practitioners in this field need to learn to present a powerful cost-benefit analysis to management. OHS practitioners who ‘do their homework’ and speak the ‘language of management’ will be able to attract funding for occupational health and safety initiatives.

Most of us would agree that there is no place for illicit drugs in the workplace. However, testing for drug use in the workplace remains a hotly debated topic. Proponents say it reduces risks in the workplace, while opponents say it is an imposition on workers’ private lives. Amidst the extremes, there has to be a workable solution.

BPO Ltd of Hamilton, New Zealand, environmental consultants, purchased a confined space harness, rig and gas detector back in 2001 because it was a requirement of one of their clients. The company undertook confined space training to the AS/NZS standards for the same reason. BPO saw the equipment and procedures more as a competitive edge rather than as a necessity and, for this reason, always followed the procedures and used the equipment. The equipment was always looked after and inspection certificates were kept current. At the time, many companies regarded the whole confined space thing as a bit of an overreaction to the Aquatec disaster in Auckland.