The family of 16 year old Joel Exner, who died after falling 12 metres through the roof of a storage shed at a construction site at Eastern Creek in NSW in October, says the death could have easily been prevented.

Energy Brix Australia Pty Ltd was fined a total of $135,000 in the Sale County Court in October over the death of a 48 year old man who was engulfed in molten ash while removing solidified ash inside a hopper at the Morwell power station, in Victoria's Latrobe Valley, in May 2001.

The recommendation that helmets should be compulsory for skateboarders came after an inquest into the death of Daniel John Peach, 16, from head injuries after falling from his skateboard on a Stafford road, on Brisbane's northside, on September 27 last year. He died in the Royal Brisbane Hospital on October 1.

In October, a 40 year old man died in hospital following a fall of approximately 7 metres through an asbestos cement sheet roof at a site in Melbourne's eastern suburb of Dandenong, while removing roof sheets.

The winners of the 2003 NSCA/Telstra National Safety Awards of Excellence were announced at a gala dinner and presentation on 14 October 2003 at the Grand Ballroom, The Wentworth Hotel, Sydney.

Melbourne's West Gate Bridge collapsed during construction on 15 October 1970, claiming the lives of 35 workers. It was the worst single workplace catastrophe in Australian history.

The Woolcock Institute of Medical Research is holding a one-day symposium entitled 'Sleep Loss - Risk and Solutions in the Workplace' on Monday 13 October, at the Powerhouse Museum Sydney.

Understanding terrorism for risk managers, property managers, engineers & architects.

A high-tech interactive CD-ROM will be mailed to Victoria's 200,000 small and medium sized workplaces as part of a new $3 million campaign to improve workplace health and safety, WorkCover Minister Rob Hulls announced recently.

Professor John Hermon-Taylor and colleagues from St George's Hospital Medical School in London, UK, have found the strongest evidence yet that Chrohn's disease and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) may be caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP).

Overseas experience in using health information technology to deal with the SARS outbreak and fears about the readiness of healthcare systems to deal with communicable diseases, bio-terrorism and chemical warfare have highlighted the public health potential of Clinical Information Systems (CIS), according to participants at the Health Informatics Conference (HIC), convened in Sydney recently.

Cambridge Consultants Ltd (CCL) has announced a breakthrough in radar safety systems for automobiles, with the potential to make sophisticated reversing and anti-collision safety aids an affordable accessory for the mass market.

Western Australian safety boot innovator, Footwear Instruments Pty Ltd has beaten a competitive field of the State's top small businesses to become the 2003 Telstra Western Australian Small Business of the Year.

In an Australia first, WorkSafe Victoria has successfully prosecuted a company for discriminating against a worker who raised concerns about an occupational health and safety issue.

A 3D animated mathematical model of the human spine developed by the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) promises to be the most accurate predictor yet of injury to the spine and associated neuro-muscular tissues.