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The Work Health and Safety (WHS) Radar synthesises the latest data on pertinent issues, trends and insights related to the current state of play regarding WHS in and outside of Australia, as well as potential WHS issues in the future world of work.

Insights from the Spring Edition 2023 are derived from:

• the analysis of existing databases (Australian Business Register), social media data and data reports (Australian Bureau of Statistics),
• a review of the international grey and academic literature, and
• consultations with nearly 1500 Australian workers (Australian WHS Survey Spring Edition 2023), 26 senior WHS professionals (the Australian Institute of Health & Safety’s College of Fellows) and 223 WHS inspectors (from Australian regulators associated with the Heads of Workplace Safety Authorities).

The following insights are of particular importance.

Continued undervaluing of safety as the economy and worker shortage worsens.

Our consultations indicated continuing impacts of the worsening economy on the priority placed on safety, regarded as “nice to have if you can afford it”, with many examples of WHS shortcuts and cost cutting. Dropping safety tasks and roles, revising what is reasonably practicable, and manipulating risk assessments to justify “doing nothing” were raised as significant concerns. Worker shortage and difficulties in recruitment was also found to contribute to the de-prioritisation of WHS. Jobs and skills Australia reports that the worker shortage is worsening, with 36% of occupations now in national shortage and acute shortages occurring in remote and regional areas. Our consultations revealed that as workers leave jobs to seek better conditions elsewhere, existing workers are required to cover vacant positions or take on unfamiliar tasks. This has increased workload and time pressure. Moreover, as recruitment favours availability over skill, lack of experience and competence is increasing risk at all levels of operation. This concern is supported by the Australian WHS Survey which found a 20% increase in exposure to physical hazards in the last six months. While the survey is not representative of the Australian workforce, it suggests a reduction in physical risk management over this period. To address workforce challenges, the federal government has committed over $440 million over 4 years to establish job and skills councils, including three recent councils for the (1) manufacturing, (2) transport and logistics, (3) mining and automotive sectors. The councils will assist in workforce planning, training product development, implementation, promotion and monitoring of the training and to provide industry stewardship.

Flexibility, trust, empowerment, and care improves worker satisfaction and mental health.

In response to workforce challenges, several research and industry bodies have explored factors valued by workers when choosing (or choosing to stay with) an employer. While demonstrated commitment to diversity, inclusion, and belonging was found highly valued, flexibility, trust, empowerment, and care were found the most important factors for workers. Evidence showed for instance that workers experiencing empathetic leadership (trust, empowerment, and care) were 40% less likely to intend to leave. In addition, work-life balance and flexible work arrangements appear to have become a baseline expectation for many workers. A study found a disconnect between employer and worker expectations regarding hybrid working. While 47% of employers prefer workers to be in the office two to three days per week, 50% of workers are willing to come in no more than one day per week. Concerns were raised in our diverse consultations around the long-term WHS impacts of hybrid working. Our spotlight deep dive into the topic identified that hybrid working can lead to blurred boundaries between work and personal life, social isolation, and the urge to be constantly connected which can impact mental health. Setting clear expectations, trust and regular contact can help mitigate these impacts.

Fines and penalties increased to support deterrence.

Several inspectors expressed frustrations over the adequacy of current penalties. Most comments related to amounts being too small to have a noticeable financial impact. Recent amendments to the national model WHS laws will address some of these concerns as they are introduced across harmonised jurisdictions as the maximum available fines and jail times have been significantly increased. Penalties under section 31 ("Gross negligence or reckless conduct–Category 1") were more than tripled while prison terms were doubled. All other penalties were increased by 39.03 per cent (before being rounded up or down), matching the increases in penalty amounts across other areas of law since 2011. A record fine of over $2 million was also recently handed down in the District Court of New South Wales, finding the offences deserved the maximum available penalty.

Evidence of improved psychosocial risk management despite confusion.

Our diverse consultations indicated that the implementation of the new Code of Practice for psychosocial hazards has been challenging. Its guidance was critiqued as too generic, while enforcement of the code was described as “random and inconsistent” with inspectors and jurisdictions developing different approaches, guidance material and standards. In non-harmonised jurisdictions, a “wait-and-see” attitude has emerged until best practice and the definition of reasonably practicable has been established. Despite the challenges, the results of our Australian WHS Survey suggest worker exposure to psychosocial hazards has significantly reduced (e.g., job demand, job control, job security and fairness) in the last six months. Lower levels of burnout, a lower exposure to all types of harassment, and a lower proportion of respondents assessed ‘at-risk’ of psychosocial harm were found compared to the Autumn Edition 2023 six month ago. While the Australian WHS Survey is not representative of the Australian workforce, these results suggest improvements in the risk management of psychosocial hazards.

New resources to reduce the prevalence of harassment.

Under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth), businesses have a positive duty to eliminate, as far as possible, sexual harassment behaviours from occurring. There has been an increased focus on the prevention of sexual harassment which has led to the development of several new guidelines and resources. In the regulatory space, an “actual or suspected sexual assault incident” has been made a notifiable WHS incident in the ACT. While assaults continue to be investigated by police, the WHS regulator in ACT will monitor WHS polices and collect data to better understand incident rates and trends, and to inform compliance activities. Safe Work Australia is currently reviewing the incident notification provisions in the model WHS laws and is considering similar changes. While this represents an important step towards improved oversight, our consultations showed some level of frustration over the regulator’s inability to act beyond the collection of data.

New safety and sustainability standards may improve WHS reporting.

The final date for transition from AZ/NZS 4801 to the new international standard for occupational health and safety management systems (ISO 45001) was 13 July 2023, assisting organisations to better define their context (scope, objectives, and targets for WHS), along with leadership, training, monitoring and reviewing performance and implementing corrective actions. This standard, combined with upcoming changes to international sustainability reporting, are likely to encourage improved WHS management and reporting. From 1 January 2024, sustainability topics – not just climate – need to be reported under a new consistent global framework, focusing on how these topics impact organisational prospects. The reporting will be connected to financial statements and thus require processes and controls to provide relevant information of the same quality and timeframe as financial information.

Reducing exposure to hazardous respirable materials.

While the debate on a ban of engineered stone products containing crystalline silica continues, uncontrolled processing has been made explicitly prohibited in the model WHS Regulation. The amendment calls for at least one of three controlled processing systems to be implemented: wet cutting, on-tool dust extraction, and/or local ventilation system. The exposure limit for welding fumes has also recently been reviewed and subsequently reduced from 5 to 1 mg/m³, bringing the level in line with the international lowest level. Our spotlight deep dive into the topic of welding fume harms identified controls similar to those for managing inhalation risks of silica dust; monitoring exposure times, real-time air monitoring, modifying enclosures around the worker, and managing ventilation using local exhaust systems to remove fumes and gases from the worker’s breathing zone.

Advances in technology can prevent harm while also introduce new risk.

Technological advancement is a key focus for harm prevention. Increased use of robots, drones and other remote-controlled devices can help operators avoid hazardous environments. Similarly, WHS management software is abundant and helps streamline processes such as risk assessment, control verification, incident reporting, and more. When combined with advanced algorithms, predictive models, and Artificial Intelligence (AI), software can analyse patterns, detect harm in real-time, and predict risk into the future. The rise of Generative AI, such as ChatGPT which creates new content based on patterns in data, has been hailed as one of the top emerging technologies of 2023. Our spotlight deep dive into the topic showed that generative AI will impact on a significant number of professions and tasks and raises concerns around job security, privacy, and data security. Concerns were expressed in our diverse consultations around the increased use of this technology to draft emails, investigation reports, safe work method statements, WHS management plans procedures, and training material without adequate quality control, thus contributing to misinformation and WHS risk.

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