Published on Dec 28, 2019

The issue price per share has not been disclosed, however the results of the IPO will be revealed on October 25, with admission to the London Stock Exchange expected to take place on October 30. The fund is managed by US healthcare firm RTW Investments LP, and will focus on i...

Published on Dec 27, 2019

The RTW Venture Fund (RTW) will float on the specialist fund segment of the London Stock Exchange later this month, hoping to attract investors with what it calls ‘top-tier venture opportunities in transformative companies with high-growth potential’. In...

Published on Oct 03, 2016

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) has supported Comcare's decision to stop covering massage treatments more than 12 years (and 648 massages) after a workplace accident left former public servant Jeffery Drummey with an injured back.  Deputy President of the ...

Published on Sep 26, 2016

Comcare is headed for the Federal Court  to challenge the Administrative Appeals Tribunal's decision to award workers' compensation to ASIC senior manager John Chambers. The tribunal upheld Mr Chambers' claims that he suffered from anxiety and depression after the corporate...

Published on Sep 18, 2016

For Comcare workers wondering what constitutes a legitimate workplace injury, secondary weight gain and jogging are out but moving to Canberra is in, reports The Australian - at least for now. Despite a 25% decrease in the number of claims lodged over the last 5 year period, the...

Published on Sep 11, 2016

Almost three quarters of Australian workplaces have no formal policy or procedure for managing staff mental health issues, according to a survey of Australian workplaces conducted by the law firm Minter Ellison. The national mental health commissioner, Professor Ian...

Published on Sep 11, 2016

The Australian Administrative Appeals Tribunal has upheld Comcare's argument that a 9.30am jog does not constitute an "ordinary recess" from work when rejecting a workers compensation claim from Catalyst presenter Maryanne Demasi, who broke her hip on a 7km coastal run while wor...

Published on Sep 04, 2016

Westpac faces action in the Federal Circuit Court from former metrics and performance insight manager, Angela Corlett, who says she was bullied at work. According to the Australian Financial Review, Ms Corlett "allegedly suffered from a back injury at work but Westp...

Published on Aug 28, 2016

Children benefit from exposure to nature - and so do workers! Like kids spending too long in front of screens, experts say that the sedentary nature of much of today's office work sees workers missing out on everything from exercise to Vitamin D. "These in turn ...

Published on Aug 28, 2016

A former Anglicare employee has been awarded more than $450,000 for psychological injuries sustained while caring for a 15-year old resident of an Anglicare facility in 2013. Rachel Greenway was subject to verbal abuse and physical threats from the teenager, and then required...

Published on Aug 28, 2016

Amie Frydenberg and Lyndon Albiston from Lander and Rogers Lawyers stress the importance of getting medical assessments right in an article outlining the ongoing dispute between the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) on behalf of Mr Michael Haylett (Hayle...

Published on Aug 21, 2016

UK Comedian Ricky Gervaise is just one of thousands to support an Australian campaign to start conversations about suicide and men's mental health. The initiative asks men to post selfies on social media with the tag #ItsOKToTalk. Rugby player Luke Ambler developed the id...

Published on Aug 14, 2016

41 Australian military personnel and veterans have commited suicide this year, the same number of Australians who were killed in Afghanistan during the 13 years of war. Grieving families have united to call for adequate support from authorities to help address the issue. The ...

Published on Aug 14, 2016

Rebates to improve the safety of all terrain vehicles (ATVs) are being made available in Victoria and NSW. The scheme will be administered by the Victorian Farmers Federation in Victoria. Grants of up to $1200 can to towards fitting rollover protection or buying an alternativ...

Published on Aug 07, 2016

The chair of the Senate inquiry into black lung believes that there has been a flawed testing regime, and said that Australia should adopt national standards for the testing of black lung in coal workers. There have been 11 cases of pneumoconiosis (black lung) discovered sinc...

Published on Jul 31, 2016

An Adelaide businessman imported 8000 cement sheets which were laced with asbestos. The company is urgently trying to track down former employees to warn them of the risks and to offer health assessments and counselling. The contamination was not discovered until 2015, but th...

Published on Jul 24, 2016

Workers at Perth Children's Hospital were covered by a white substance after drilling into roof, however the area was not isolated for 24 hours. The material was later found to be asbestos. Opposition health spokesman said, "John Holland has had an infinite number of...

Published on Jul 24, 2016

A flight attendant was arrested and jailed for three days in the United States following accusations by a workmate that he sexually assaulted her. He spent a night in a police cell before being transferred to Orange County jail. The police did not proceed with any charges aga...

Published on Jul 17, 2016

The most recent set of data from Safe Work Australia shows that workers in the agriculture, forestry and fishery industries are at highest risk of injury and fatality. There were 686 deaths in these industries between 2003 and 2014, accounting for 23 percent of all workplace ...

Published on Jul 10, 2016

Impairment through drug and alcohol use greatly increases the risk of injury in the workplace. Around half of all workplace incident occur as a result of drug abuse according to research. Tackling the issue improves worker health, workplace stability and increases workplace p...

Published on Jun 19, 2016

Research has revealed that 26 percent of people aged between 12 and 25 years of age would not tell anyone if they had a personal mental health issue. 52 percent of people in this age group who had experienced a mental health issue in the past year said that they would be emba...

Published on Jun 19, 2016

It has emerged that thousands of truck drivers may not be covered for workers' compensation despite paying for their policies. CGU and WorkSafe Victoria recently denied a claim for compensation over a woman's husband's death. The driver worked for a trucking giant...

Published on Jun 19, 2016

Hundreds of truck drivers and their families held protests and convoys around the country to demand an end to the pressure placed on drivers. This included a rally in Sydney after a convoy of 240 drivers across Sydney Harbour Bridge, tranport workers holding a 'go slow...

Published on Jun 12, 2016

The The United Firefighters Union's Victorian Secretary Peter Marshall is reported to have written to Queensland MP's last year advising that there wasn't enough evidence to support the automatic inclusion of volunteer firefighters in a compensation scheme. He wro...

Published on May 29, 2016

An app has been developed by Hall & Wilcox which helps to assess whether a claim is likely to be recovered. The platform is able to tap into an insurere's entire portfolio to help identify claims with recovery potential, and helps the insurer to meet the requirements ...

Published on May 29, 2016

A former trainee fighter pilot suffering from vertigo had his claims for compensation rejected by Comcare, the Federal Court and the High Court and has taken his fight to the International Human Rights Commission. The man believes that the vertigo was the result of adverse re...

Published on May 22, 2016

From September 1, all Comcare payments will be paid directly to employees and the service providers via electronic funds transfer. Email will be used for information about claims and payment advice. As a result of the change, funds will be received sooner, and it will speed u...

Published on May 22, 2016

Mental illness is estimated to cost Australian businesses $10.9 billion each year. One in five Australians siffer from a mental health condition every year, and it's estimated that around 45 percent of people will have a mental health condition in their lifetime. Computer...

Published on May 01, 2016

The Comcare Work Health and Safety Awards are now open for nomations. The awards this year will introduce new categories which reflect Comcare's emphasis on minimising harm as well as helping injured workers back to good health and a return to work. The conference theme f...

Published on Apr 24, 2016

The Australian Unemployed Workers' Union president is seeking the abolishment of the Work for the Dole Scheme. The campaign follows the death of an 18 year old man who fell from a trailer being towed by a tractor in Toowoomba. Unemployed workers have no access to WorkCove...

Published on Apr 24, 2016

Law firm Maurice Blackburn is calling for the introduction of new laws to make franchisors responsible for the actions of franchisees when worklace laws are breached. Some franchisees employ people as independent contractors to avoid correct payment of wages and avoid paying ...

Published on Apr 24, 2016

Union workers and their families gathered outside Queensland's parliament house to demand immediate action from the government to stop black lung disease. The disease is caused by prolonged exposure to coal dust, and is frequently associated with mining. The disease was e...

Published on Apr 17, 2016

Employers need to be aware of the legal risks associated with employee burnout. These might include compensation claims, healthy and safety issues, bullying claims and breach of duty of care. Common causes of workplace stress include deadlines, overtime and heavy workloads. T...

Published on Mar 21, 2016

Taking a short nap at work has been shown to improve productivity, as well as minimise the risk of accidents and injury. The study was conducted by the Centre for Sleep Research at the University of Pennsylvania and they found that a siesta particularly helped workers involve...

Published on Mar 21, 2016

Worksafe has released statistics showing that the highest number of injury claims are from healthcare and social assistance workers. Worksafe are planning to address this through their Health Practice team. The team is developing targeted projects with key stakeholders and ma...

Published on Mar 21, 2016

During the eight years from 1 July 2003 to 30 June 2011, 356 people died while working on farms. This was 17% of all workplace fatalities. Safe Work Australia is strongly encouraging farmers to consult with workers, identify hazards, assess risks, control risks and keep a rec...

Published on Mar 14, 2016

The reports into CommInsure have prompted other large banks to review declined claims and out of date policy definitions. ASIC is looking closely at the industry, investigating claims handling, the product design of policies and consumer remediation. ASIC may impose penalties...

Published on Mar 14, 2016

Concerns have been raised that GPs may be counselling patients against pursing workers' compensation claims, concerned it may be detrimental to the workers' mental health. Some GPs also find the compensation system so onerous that they are relucant to follow through w...

Published on Mar 14, 2016

Safe Work Australia has released statistics showing that the number of females being seriously injured in the workplace continues to decline. They have fallen by 21% in the past 12 years. There has also been a 30% drop in fatal injuries for female workers over the same time p...

Published on Mar 07, 2016

A Four Corners / Fairfax investigation into the Commonwealth Bank's insurance arm, CommInsure, explored the stories of sick and dying people whose claims had been rejected by the insurer. These included a man diagnosed with leukaemia who was given only 12 months to live. ...

Published on Mar 06, 2016

The Royal Flying Doctor Service has called for a national injury and prevention plan, aimed at saving lives as well as billions of dollars. They hope to target people in rural and remote Australia, where people face double the risk of accident or death. The main causes of dea...

Published on Feb 29, 2016

Personal injury law firm Slater and Gordon has been given a month to restructure their organisation or it will be shut down by its banking syndicate. The syndicate includes Westpac and NAB. If the lenders are unhappy with the restructure, they can demand repayment of debts wi...

Published on Feb 29, 2016

A call centre worker suffered neck and shoulder injuries due to alleged telephone overuse and lodged a compensation claim. This claim was accepted. After working on modified duties for a time, her employment was terminated, as the employer decided that the applicant could not...

Published on Feb 22, 2016

The SA Greens are proposing penalties of up to $1million or 20 years in jail for employers who cause the death of a worker through negligence or indifference. It would create a new criminal offence of 'industrial manslaughter'. The proposal has union support. The bill...

Published on Feb 22, 2016

The Turnbull government is looking to establish a parliamentary injury compensation system to cover MPs injured in the course of their duties. The bill was introduced to parliament last week, and will cover medical treatment, rehabilitation, inability to work, death and funer...

Published on Feb 15, 2016

A Senate inquiry into 'black lung' disease has been announced this week, in response to five confirmed cases in Queensland in recent months. The five miners have filed compensations claims against the owners of the mines in which the disease was contracted. A class ac...

Published on Feb 15, 2016

The World Health Organisation last year upgraded glyphosate from 'possibly' to 'probably causes cancer.'  Glyphosate is a weed killer, currently is use by many Australian councils, including in sensitive areas such as playgrounds. It was originally market...

Published on Feb 08, 2016

A signage company has been fined $250,000 for their part in the fatal wall collapse on Swanston Street, Melbourne, in 2013. Three people died in the incident. The company pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that people other than employees were not exposed to risks of their h...

Published on Feb 08, 2016

Safe Work Australia's Director of Health and Safety and Compensation Policy Julie Hill has sought to dispel the myth that workers aged over 65 have no access to workers compensation. She stated that "Medical and rehabilitation costs and lump sum payments for permanen...

Published on Feb 08, 2016

A police administrator won compensation this week over a minor workplace disagreement, and an employment lawyer has warned that this could open the way for more cases around psychological injury. The worker claimed harm relating to a flow chart presented in a meeting at the C...

Published on Feb 01, 2016

The Industrial Court of Queensland has dismissed an appeal by MAC Moranbah Village operator Civeo and found that a worker attacked in his bed can claim workers compensation. The worker sustained soft tissue injuries as a result of the 2010 attack, and sought compensation as t...

Published on Feb 01, 2016

The parliamentary inquiry into the exposure of firefighters to toxic chemical at Fiskville has heard the former officer in charge admit that a chemical spill had been "brushed under the carpet." The incident occurred  around Christmas 2001. A tractor which expo...

Published on Jan 26, 2016

Qantas is planning to spend $680,000 on workplace safety procedures. The spend was triggered by a workplace accident in which a cleaner slipped and hurt his back at Canberra Airport. He fell backwards out of a service door as he was cleaning an aircraft parked in the hanger. ...

Published on Jan 26, 2016

The new South Australian Police Minister is "prepared to reconsider" the police union's push to increase the amount of compensation available to police officers who have been injured in the line of duty. The union claims that seriously injured officers are at ri...

Published on Jan 26, 2016

The safety of staff, medics and patients in hospitals is being badly impacted by people high on the drug ice, and there have been calls to increase security as a result. At Tweed Hospital alone, there have been hundreds of assults in the past year according to the state nurse...

Published on Jan 18, 2016

89% of Australians now own a smart phone, with many workers using their device to send emails, make personal calls, send text messages and check their social media accounts. This can be a major distraction in the workplace. Some Australian businesses have made the move to ban...

Published on Jan 18, 2016

90% of all industries suffer from data breaches which result in stolen medical records according to a report from Verizon Enterprise Solutions. They found that over 392 million medical records were disclosed in 1931 data breaches across 20 years, worldwide. The breaches were ...

Published on Jan 18, 2016

A security guard at Crown Casino in Melbourne was involved in a scuffle with James Packer after he failed to recognise the owner. The guard reportedly collapsed on the way home after the event, and told News Corp that he was taken to hospital suffering from back pain and shoc...

Published on Dec 21, 2015

Safe Work Australia are seeking feedback regarding proposed changes to the health and safety requirements around inorganic lead. The chances are in response to scientific reports stating that current exposure standards are not sufficient for proecting the health of workers. T...

Published on Dec 21, 2015

The NSW Ambulance Service may be facing a class action from current and former paramedics and call centre workers. They are currently in discussions with three law firms, alleging bullying, harassment and intimidation by some in the management side of the organisation. Concer...

Published on Dec 21, 2015

WorkSafe's representative Barrister Ross Ray QC has told the Melbourne Magistrate's Court that the club's conduct was a substantial departure from its duty of care. He added that when players complained about the program, they were told to keep quiet in order to m...

Published on Dec 21, 2015

A woman who suffered from years of sexual harassment in the workplace has been awarded $1.36 million from her employer, Winslow Constructions. When she complained about her treatment to the person who she believed responsible for human resources, he invited her out for a drin...

Published on Dec 14, 2015

A report from management organisation CEB has found that engagement levels are currently as their lowest since January for Australian employess. CEB stated that, "Employees feeling the pressure to perform have become less engaged at work. With work/life balance vital for...

Published on Dec 14, 2015

Remember that health and safety obligations apply even during end of year celebrations as they are work functions. WorkCover Queensland pointed out that, “Particularly if the event is organised and paid for by the employer, the duty of care to workers remains the s...

Published on Dec 07, 2015

Compensation has been awarded to FIFO worker who was assaulted during after-hours drinks.The court found that the worker was in a remote WA "company town". The assault took place outside the 'tavern' and the worker's shoulder was injured. He applied for ...

Published on Dec 07, 2015

Summer is on the way, so employers are being urged to protect all workers from the heat. As well as people working outdoors, people working indoors or in confined spaces are also at risk from indirect heat or fatigue during heatwaves. WorkSafe Victoria recommends that workers...

Published on Nov 30, 2015

Although hotdesking is being used by many employers, it can shift attention away from ergonomic design and result in more strain injuries. Hotdesking results in employees having less focus on whether their chairs and desk are at the correct height. Profession Leon Straker, se...

Published on Nov 30, 2015

Essendon Football Club has pleaded guilty to breaches of the OH&S Act over its handling of their supplements program. In the charges brought by WorkSafe, the club was accused of failing to provide a working environment and system of work which was safe and without risks t...

Published on Nov 30, 2015

The Royal Australian College of Surgeons is seeking to change the perception that it's an "Anglo-Saxon boys club" through promoting more women and addressing bullying by surgeons in the workplace. A report earlier this year found that bullying, discrimination an...

Published on Nov 30, 2015

A worker in Queensland was seeking almost a million dollars in compensation has had the amount reduced to $191,061 after viewo surfaced of him sparring in a karate class. The worker was injured in 2012 after burning his heel and ankle in a caustic solution and reported the pa...

Published on Nov 23, 2015

The Australian Defence Force have introduced a creative arts program to improve the mental health and wellbeing of their workforce. Brigadier Wayne Goodman noted that many studies have demonstrated the relationship between the arts and enhanced health outcomes for individuals...

Published on Nov 23, 2015

The University of NSW is planning to start clinical trials within a year following a breakthrough discovery linking a lack of a particular protein to PTSD. If proven successful, it would take at least five years to become an accepted treatment. As part of the experiment, rats...

Published on Nov 23, 2015

The cost of chronic pain to the Australian economy was more than $55 billion in 2012, with back pain and osteoarthritis the most common conditions. These two condition represent more than 100 million years of productive life lost due to disability in 2010. The statistics coul...

Published on Nov 23, 2015

According to a study conducted by PsychSafe, lawyers working in law firms have the lowest health and wellbeing of all white collar workers. They are also the highest users and abusers of alcohol and nicotine. While many employers are using resilience and mindfulness strategie...

Published on Nov 14, 2015

Insecure workplaces can be a major cause of both psychological and physical ill health according to a recent study. The research shows that people facing economic insecurity are more likely to smoke, drink and exercise less. It is estimated that deaths associated with poor co...

Published on Nov 09, 2015

Comcare is set to conduct two trials with private companies in order to see how it can work better and reduce premiums. A spokesperson was quick to point out that "we have had no indication from government of any move towards privatisation or outsourcing." Their aim...

Published on Nov 09, 2015

If your boss is in a state of constant stress, they may be causing you harm as you can 'catch' their negative energy. This phenomena is becoming increasingly prevalent in the workplace. We tend to mirror the mental state of those around us, and researchers has found t...

Published on Nov 09, 2015

The high level of risk around driving and operating machinery continues with little change. The rate of illness or injury in this group remained at 88 per 1000 employees according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This was followed by manufacturing at 82 per 1000, and t...

Published on Nov 01, 2015

A new report from the Cancer Council shows that around half of all workers who spend time outside as part of their job are missing out on sun protection. The Council reminds employers that they need to protect their workers skin to reduce the risk of skin cancer. More than 2....

Published on Nov 01, 2015

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare released a report in 2014 which studied eight chronic diseases: arthritis, asthma, back problems, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and mental health conditions. They found that 46% o...

Published on Nov 01, 2015

The average mental stress workers' compensation claim through Comcare costs $342,000, but nearly 500 cases in the last five years have cost over $500,000 according to a report by Comcare. A number of trial programs are being developed to address the problem, with the main...

Published on Oct 25, 2015

Chicken processor La Ionica has been fined $64,000 after a worker's arm was maimed in an unsafe machine. The worker suffered injuries which will be lifelong, as well as severe depression. The National Union of Workers estimates that one in three workers in the poultry ind...

Published on Oct 25, 2015

Bullying is often focused on oafish or physically violent behaviour, but what about the small, repetitive, needling acts which go unnoticed and unreported? They can quickly create a toxic workplace. A US survey has found in their preliminary results that 80% of people who fee...

Published on Oct 25, 2015

An employee terminated while on workers' compensation payments missed out on $181.66 as the calculations were two days short of the required five weeks notice. The fines for the employer were much larger. ACI Operations was fined $20,400 and the HR manager was fined more ...

Published on Oct 19, 2015

A Federal public servant has won a five year battle for compensation following a stroke suffered while leaving the shower in a hotel room. It was previously found that it was not suffered in the course of his employment, however this decision was overturned by the Administrat...

Published on Oct 19, 2015

The NSW Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation has issued a strong warning about the importance of safety around forklifts. Between July 2012 and July 2014, 1,360 workers were injured in forklift accidents. Five of these accidents were fatal. Safework NSW wants busines...

Published on Oct 12, 2015

A public servant has won a legal battle for the Commonwealth Government for pay for her breast reduction surgery. The claim was initially denied, however the Federal Court overturned the decision. The worker said that long hours hunched over computers had led to neck and shou...

Published on Oct 12, 2015

An injured worker failed to tell Comcare that he was working as a taxi driver while claiming more than $70,000 in compensation payments. He has been found guilty of obtaining financial advantage by deception. The former ambulance officer had injured his back while at work, an...

Published on Oct 12, 2015

A Sydney man is claiming that his employment insurance policy was cancelled after he became permanently incapacitated in a workplace accident. He further claims that the MLC is delaying the lawsuit in the hope that he will give up the fight. The legal fight over the insurance...

Published on Oct 05, 2015

Studies show that financial insecurity has a strong impact on migrant worker health, and that through poor working conditions, chronic health issues may arise. This can back traced back into Australia's past, with the Wittenoom asbestos mine in the 1960's cited as an ...

Published on Oct 05, 2015

Garry McDonald, comic actor and former beyondblue board member, discussed his experiences with depression and anxiety on Australian Story last night. Since his well-documented breakdown in the 1990's, he has become a strong advocate for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)...

Published on Oct 04, 2015

October is Safe Work Month, and to mark the occasion, Safe Work Australia are launching a Virtual Seminar Series. The Chair of Safe Work Australia encourages workers to reflect on their reasons for being safe and healthy at work. She said that, "For me, the major cost of...

Published on Oct 04, 2015

Federal Health Minister Sussan Ley has announced that the current system around mental health will soon be overhauled. The aim is to "catch people before they fall." A report in April 2015 found that "The effect of our poorly planned mental health system is a m...

Published on Sep 28, 2015

A Four Corners report last night looked at the unnecessary testing and treatments choking the Australian healthcare system. We're talked about this issue many times here at RTW Matters, as it can be a major problems in the management of work injuries. MRI scans provide an...

Published on Sep 27, 2015

The chief executiveof the Mental Health Recovery Institute believes that businesses are still trying to catch up with mental health training. He believes that it's currently about 20 years behind. He cited research stating that "people who have had a mental illness a...

Published on Sep 27, 2015

WorkSafe WA has turned its attention towards commercial cleaners, planning an inspection program for the remainder of the financial year. The focus was prompted by the high level of injuries sustained in the industry, with an average of 140 lost-time injuries each year over t...

Published on Sep 27, 2015

A Norwegian study has round that people who are being bullied at work are more likely to contemplate suicide than people who have never been bullied. The study found that less than 5% of participants in the study had contemplated suicide, but they were twice as likely to have...

Published on Sep 21, 2015

Patients who listen to music, even under general anaesthetic while surgery is conducted, tend to have lower levels of anxiety and require lower levels of pain medication, a new study has found. The study covered various types of music, timing and music delivery methods as wel...

Published on Sep 14, 2015

70% of Australians are sedentary or insufficiently active, and their health is suffering. 63% of Australians are now considered to be obese, and poor posture and work injuries are common. Aty the Workplace Wellness Conference, delegates discussed the impact of immobility on h...

Published on Sep 14, 2015

Quad bikes are the biggest killers on Australian farms. They are unlikely to be replaced in the near future, so farmers are encouraged to attend training courses, wear helmets and install roll-over protection. Farmers are also advised to keep children under 16 off adult-sized...

Published on Sep 14, 2015

The annual Safe Work Australia Awards have been discontinued, to be replaced with strategies which are more effective and efficient. The organisation described the awards as pretigious and well-respected, but had a limited reach in the media and required extensive planning an...

Published on Sep 07, 2015

A neurosurgeon and former director of surgical training at Monash Helath has lodged an unfair dismissal claim with Fair Work Australia, alleging bullying and sexism. The neurosurgeon was dismissed about a fortnight after bullying accusations were levelled against her. She was...

Published on Sep 07, 2015

Health economists are arguing that professional sportspeople should have their medical expenses for on-field injuries paid for by their employer rather than through the government via Medicare. A Department of Human Services report last year found that Medicare claims had bee...

Published on Sep 07, 2015

Bullying can have a terrible impact on the lives of workers. It also impacts the majority of employees during their working lives, whether they are a victim, a witness or an alleged perpetrator. Michelle Tuckey from the School of Psychology, Social Work and Social Policy at t...

Published on Sep 07, 2015

84 diseases should be added to the national list of compensable diseases according to a WorkSafe Australia report. These include HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and anthrax. It was argued that workers at risk of needlestick injuries, such as health care workers, be covered against con...

Published on Aug 31, 2015

Between 2003 and 2012, SafeWork Australia found that 18 workers were killed by reversing trucks. In an effort to counter these statistics, VicRoads is updating its fleet with radar-based reverse braking technology. The new brakes sense when there is an object behind the vehic...

Published on Aug 24, 2015

Research conducted by a professor of Epidemiology at University College London has found that people who work more than 55 hours per week can increase their stroke risk by 33%. People working between 41 and 48 hours per week increased their risk of stroke by 10%. It was noted...

Published on Aug 24, 2015

A worker who was operating excavators at the Hazelwood mine site during the fire is claiming that his lung disease is the direct result the smoke. His role during the fire was to dig out the burning coal and to stockpile it so that the fire wouldn't spread as easily. He w...

Published on Aug 17, 2015

Coal miners in NSW will receive no increase to the compensation scheme put in place for the families of workers who are killed at work. Although the amendment will increase the amount paid to the families of deceased workers, from $524,000 to $750,000, coal miners will miss o...

Published on Aug 17, 2015

Dr Chris Stevens from Communicorp recently spoke about creating psychologically healthy workplaces, while agreeing that in modern workplaces, workers are subject to an over-diagnosis of of mental health issues. Dr Peter Cotton estimated that around 30% of workers' compens...

Published on Aug 17, 2015

A worker who cleaned asbestos from pipes was diagnosed with mesothelioma early last year, and the Supreme Court ruled that it was the result of his exposure to asbestos dust and due to the negligence of the mine operators. Alcan Gove has since been bought by Rio Tinto. Rio Ti...

Published on Aug 17, 2015

During the Queensland Finance and Administration Committee public hearing, some workers claimed that they had been discriminated against by employers due to their past workers' compensation claims. There were 26,000 requests from employers to see workers' compensation...

Published on Aug 10, 2015

A Flinders University study has found that sick days caused by handovers are costing the Australian economy around $3b per year, up from $1.2b in 2001. It has also been suggested that people who mix alcohol and amphetamines on the weekend are experiencing 'weepy Wednesday...

Published on Aug 10, 2015

The Fair Work Commission has ruled in favour of two employees of a real estate firm. The employees alleged that they were abused and threatened with violence at work by a female property manager. It was alleged that she undermined their work and belittled them, as well as swe...

Published on Aug 10, 2015

A 16 year old suffered third degree burns to his face and body while emptying a cooker in North Geelong's KFC. He is in a critical but stable condition. He had worked at the store for about a year. The restaurant was closed following the injury and WorkSafe Victoria are i...

Published on Aug 03, 2015

Almost three in four police have been attacked on duty in the last three years, with ice being blamed for the significant increase. Capsicum spray is often ineffective against users. A survey found that 90 percent of Victorian police believe that violence against them has inc...

Published on Aug 03, 2015

The annual cost of bullying, harassment and violence in the public service is approaching $80m, according to Comcare. Trauma caused by bullying or violence makes up the largest number of mental stress claims, with these costing an average of $342,000. Mental health claimants ...

Published on Jul 27, 2015

A leaked internal survey from the NSW WorkCover Independent Review Office has uncovered complaints from workers about a 'toxic' culture, with complaints including sexual harrassment, bullying and low morale. Review Officer Kim Garling is currently caught in a 'job...

Published on Jul 27, 2015

The Queensland Industrial Relations Commission has agreed that a worker who injured his back running to answer a call from work on his mobile should be eligible for compensation. The worker was required to work at least 55 hours per week and was on-call from time to time. He ...

Published on Jul 27, 2015

ABC's Landline looked at Australia's most dangerous job this week - farming, and more specifically the dangers of quad bikes. While driver error may be to blame, there are also arguments for improved bike designs. An average of 14 to 15 people die every year on quad b...

Published on Jul 27, 2015

The New Daily explores some of the challenges facing workers over 65. The article argues that one of the main challenges is that there is little or no protection in the state based workers' compensation schemes for workers over 65. In NSW, workers over the retirement age ...

Published on Jul 19, 2015

The head of Hynes Legal's aged care and retirement living team told the Nurses in Aged Care Conference that they are seeing two to three providers each with seeking advice regarding social media, often regarding the bullying of other staff members or revealing details of ...

Published on Jul 12, 2015

A second year apprentice attending his boss's birthday party suffered serious burns and has won compensation for his injuries. The employer bought 11 kegs of beer and his employees were drinking from 11am into the early evening. During the party, a group of apprentices st...

Published on Jul 12, 2015

The emotional wellbeing of employees is vital for a productive workplace. Manager shouldn't ignore it. Comcare estimates that the total cost of mental health claims is more than $14b per year in Australia - much more than is paid out in compensation. The agency also says ...

Published on Jul 06, 2015

A parking ranger was reprimanded for not handing out enough fines in an email cc'd to eight of his colleagues. The ranger emailed Lord Mayor Clover Moore and other City of Sydney Executives complaining of alleged corruption, mental health, low morale, high sick leave and ...

Published on Jul 06, 2015

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal has found that a former housekeeper at the Prime Minister's official residence in Canberra exaggerated her condition, but will continue to receive workers' compensation. She injured her back in 2010 while making a bed, the reinjured...

Published on Jul 06, 2015

Stories abound of people who are 'gaming the system', but is there any truth to the matter? A report in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine suggests that workers' compensation fraud is a myth perpetrated by insurance companies and employers. In Australia&#...

Published on Jul 06, 2015

A report from Monash University has found that  Vic TAFE teachers have the highest levels of burn out, and early childhood teachers have the highest levels of workload concerns. Around half of all teachers surveyed reported having suffered a health and safety incident in...

Published on Jun 29, 2015

In 2012, falls from heights accounted for 7,400 workers' compensation claims, and injuries for falling objects accounted for 4,200 claims. These two types of incident combined accounted for around 20% of injuries. There are various methods available to mitigate the risks,...

Published on Jun 28, 2015

A WA Parliamentary Inquiry has made several recommendations on protecting the mental health of Fly In Fly Out (FIFO) workers, however the inquiry is facing criticism for focusing on "a misleading aspect of mental health." This aspect is that 20-45 year old males are...

Published on Jun 21, 2015

The humble office chair is set to become a smart chair. Monash Health, Austin Health and Monash University are working to create a chair which can read the sitter's posture in real time - and correct it. The system has 78 pressure sensors to measure weight distribution an...

Published on Jun 21, 2015

A flight attendant working for Ansett during the 1990's is taking BAE Systems to court claiming damages for "aerotoxic syndrome". Suffers claim that during flights, cabins are contaminated with microscopic airborne engine oils and chemicals. Symptoms include fat...

Published on Jun 21, 2015

A 2011 Stanford University study found that there was a 13% increase in productivity among the 255 Chinese travel workers randomly chosen to work from home for eight months. In addition to the reduction in office distractions and a reduction in traffic, it also helps to creat...

Published on Jun 21, 2015

The worker was dismissed by BHP in 2014, claiming that the worker was unable to fulfil his duties, with his weight creating a danger both to himself and his fellow employees. At the time, he had been absent from the workplace for two years, with BHP paying his medical bills. ...

Published on Jun 15, 2015

The new book, Job Quality, expores the upcoming challenges in the Australian workplace. With regard to RTW, it notes that "Giving workers greater control over their work, moderating demands on them and ensuring a greater degree of employment security and regulatory prote...

Published on Jun 14, 2015

The Australian Lawyers Alliance has labelled the proposal by the Insurance Council of Australia as a disaster, claiming that it would lead to more deaths. The ALA director Rod Hodgson called the cap on payments for high paid workers "...a brutal cash grab against people ...

Published on Jun 14, 2015

A Californian acupuncturist and biochemist spent ten tears researching remote communities around the world. She found that some reported no back pain at all, despite hours spent sitting on the floor. She found that the spines of the people tended to have a 'J' shape r...

Published on Jun 14, 2015

The Insurance Council of Australia would like to see state-run monopoly schemes opened up to general insurance companies, driving efficiency. They are also keen to see the nine workers' compendation schemes in Australia 'harmonised' and overseen by one independent...

Published on Jun 14, 2015

The Health Profile of Australian Employees has found that Australian workers are more physically inactive, have higher BMI's and higher levels of physical distress. It also found that young working women were most at risk of poor mental health. High blood pressure, obesit...

Published on Jun 08, 2015

A University of Ohio study has found that women cope better with stress. The experiment involved people playing a gambling game, and being told at the start of the game that they would in 20 minutes be giving a public presentation speaking about their body. This made both men...

Published on Jun 08, 2015

The Queensland Industrical Relations Commission found in favour of a worker who held roles as a mines inspector, legal officer and district executive vice-president of the CFMEU. It found that he had been exposed to three work-related stressors, leading to the workers' me...

Published on Jun 08, 2015

Maintaining machinery and equipment on farms can help support on-farm safety, as well as avoiding downtime and lower productivity. Cutting corners makes farmers vulnerable to accidents in the workplace. While newer models of machinery tend to have a focus on safety, older mod...

Published on May 31, 2015

the CEO of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia stated that lawyers "are taking up to 35 percent of disability payments made to super fund members." She said that historically 95% of claims to super funds have been paid out, and that it was difficult...

Published on May 31, 2015

WorkSafe has a rejected a claim by the CFMEU, the Electrical Trades Union and Australian Manufacturing Workers union that workers based on Barrow Island off Western Australia should have been evacuated as it became clear that category 3 Cyclone Olwyn was bearing down on the l...

Published on May 31, 2015

As an aviation fire truck responded to a call, it sped through a red light in Darwin killing three people. Although the sister of one of the victims complained that there was no consultation with the families and no support, Comcare released a statement stating that they were...

Published on May 31, 2015

The research group Cortex Solutions analysed 113,000 workplace injuries which occurred over a six year period and found that men aged 30 to 39 have the highest incidence of back injuries, and are the most likely to report them. Men aged 42 and over are the least likely to ret...

Published on May 24, 2015

The Cancer Council of Western Australia believes that only about 10% of people suffering from cancer caused by the workplace make workers' compensation claims. Last year, about 395 claims were made, resulting in payouts of around $30m. It is believed that work exposure to...

Published on May 17, 2015

A new $1.4m insurance scheme is being set up specifically for MPs and Senators. Although administered by Comcare, the politicians won't be joining the Commonwealth workers' compensation scheme. The new scheme "will provide a senator or member with an entitlement ...

Published on May 17, 2015

The Seafarers Rehabilitation and Compensation and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2015 has been passed without amendments in the Senate. The bill clarifies that the scheme isn't intended to apply to employees engaged on ships on intrastate voyages as they are covered by ...

Published on May 17, 2015

An employee of the Department of Human Services claimed that ongoing exposure to management representatives acting unprofessionally caused him to suffer panic attacks. The claim was rejected by Comcare, and after to legal appeals, he remains unsuccessful in his bid for compen...

Published on May 13, 2015

Almost half of all under-30's in the UK report suffering from constant back pain, in a 28% yearly rise. Across all age groups, 86% reported that they had problems with their back - up from 77% last year. Children as young as 12 are seeking treatment. Chiropractors are bla...

Published on May 11, 2015

A lack of sleep can create irritability, accidents and chronic health conditions, and Australia is in the grip of this creeping epidemic. Long working hours, long communting hours, family demands and socialising tend to be the causes, and researchers are now calling for sleep...

Published on May 11, 2015

Michelle Baxter, Safe Work Australia Chief Executive Officer, is set to discuss ways of reducing the number of injuries in the manufacturing sector. The sector currently has the second highest rate of injuries among Australian industries. Although there has been a significant...

Published on May 11, 2015

The Australian Industry Group has voiced their support for the proposed changes to psychological injury claims through Comcare. Claims would no longer be accepted for corporate restructures or other workplace changes related to management actions unless deemed unreasonable. T...

Published on May 11, 2015

UnitingCare's Creative Ministries Network commissioned a survey on how the workers' compensation system could be improved. They found that some workplace injury victims felt as though it was a 'guilty until proven innocent' situation, with pressures placed on ...

Published on May 03, 2015

About half of Australian workers who have taken time off work for mental illness did not disclose the reasons to anyone in their workplace, according to a senior counsellor at AccessEAP. When the information is disclosed, some employers are supportive and their return to work...

Published on May 03, 2015

A veterans' support group believes that the understaffing of the Department of Veterans' Affairs is leading returned soldiers to become increasingly desperate and suicidal. The support service has been told that each delegate has at least 150 to 200 compensation case ...

Published on May 03, 2015

The Australian Council of Trade Unions is arguing for negligent company directors to be held personally liable for deaths in the workplace, as well as facing heavy penalties which may include up to 20 years of jail time. They want stronger health and safety laws to "send...

Published on May 03, 2015

It is well known that sitting for a long time can be bad for your health, but did you know that most people are sitting in a way which makes their health even worse? Back pain is one of the most common health complaints for office workers, and it is most frequently caused by ...

Published on Apr 27, 2015

While BeyondBlue CEO Georgie Harman said that openness about mental health issues could help managers create the best environment for recovery, she warned that workers should only speak openly when they were confident that they would be supported. The organisation is aware of...

Published on Apr 27, 2015

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal has rejected Australia Post's claim that an employee was injured as the result of a sneezing fit. It was instead ruled that the employee's work at Australia Post aggravated a pre-existing spinal condition and that Australia Post is ...

Published on Apr 27, 2015

Comcare CEO Jennifer Taylor has announced to new Comcare executive appointments. Tony Middlebrook will be the new General Manager of Insurance, and Gary Jeffery the new General Manager of Claims.  Ms Taylor stated that, "Their work will focus on delivering rob...

Published on Apr 20, 2015

A One Shift survey has found that two thirds of employees feel pressured to go to work when they are ill. On the other hand, 57% of employees feel annoyed when someone comes into the workplace with an illness. This suggests that workers are more concerned about unwanted illne...

Published on Apr 20, 2015

Both Labor and the Greens are 'suspicious' towards the proposed Comcare reforms.  Without these two groups, Senator Abetz must gain the support of independents and minor parties to see the legislation through. Prominent compensation lawyers and the CPSU have also...

Published on Apr 20, 2015

Manuela Ferreira, Associate Professor in Medicine at the University of Sydney, noted that nine out of ten people visiting the doctor due to lower back pain have no serious problems with their spine. Instead, the pain is likely the result of stress or strain. Often, the treatm...

Published on Apr 20, 2015

The Konekt Market Report analysed 113,000 compensable and non-compensable back pain cases in Australia over a six year perior and found that employees often delay reporting their injury or ignore the injury until it becomes debilitating. With around 3 million Australians suff...

Published on Apr 13, 2015

While there are many benefits to working with an older workforce, employers should ensure that a safe working environment is provided, along with a focus on health, wellbeing and injury management. "To avoid more severe work-related injuries, longer rehabilitation and gr...

Published on Apr 13, 2015

Comcare claims for psychological injuries have increased by almost 50% in the past four years, with efforts being made to tarhet treatment and support prior to claims being made. Amendments to the Bill are currently before the Senate and include early access to $5000 in medic...

Published on Apr 06, 2015

Five contractors working at the Sydney Royal Easter Show decided to break into the slippery slide and take a ride in the rain. The slide is never operated in the rain. There is also no safety matting at the base when it's not in operation. The workers found this out the h...

Published on Apr 06, 2015

As the number of people aged over 65 in the workplace continues to increase, concerns have been raised about cuts to workers' compensation schemes. The Australian Lawyers Alliance president Andrew Stone believes that cuts in benefits to injured workers could have long ter...

Published on Apr 06, 2015

Research conducted by Tony Lower at the Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety has found that 193,632 working weeks were lost across primary industries in just four years. The research focused on the cotton, grain, mixed farming, sugar, marine and aquaculture in...

Published on Apr 06, 2015

A worker helping to unload a Linfox truck aggravated a pre-existing workplace injury when she prevented a loaded roll cage from hitting her supervisor. The incident occurred as the truck driver didn't know how to operate the electric pallet jack. The liability of Liquorla...

Published on Mar 30, 2015

The Federal Government’s Comcare scheme is set to ‘modernise’ under new legislation to be introduced before Parliament. Federal Employment Minister senator Eric Abetz said that, “"The scheme's original focus was compensating injured employees ...

Published on Mar 30, 2015

Michael Klanja died at work last year when a wall fell during a strong gust of wind. Following his death, his wife has been refused WorkSafe financial assistance as he was a subcontractor rather than an employee. She is now suing the building company, and hopes that through t...

Published on Mar 30, 2015

Professor Dame Carol Black, advisor to the UK government on Health and Work, believes that the traditional ‘sick note’ (medical certificate) should be replaced with a ‘fit note.’ She believes that the current system is causing more harm than good, and ...

Published on Mar 23, 2015

Dr Joanna Howe, author of a McKell Institute report into the proposed Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Legislation amendment bill has found that it will disadvantage workers, as well as increasing premiums for the majority of Australian businesses. Only multi-state bus...

Published on Mar 23, 2015

Mining Family Matters and Wesley LifeForce Suicide Prevention Networks have joined forces in a program designed to prevent suicide in the mining and oil and gas industries. There have been at least nine deaths of workers in the Pilbara alone, with FIFO workers being the most ...

Published on Mar 23, 2015

Companies including NAB and IBM Australia and NZ have been introducing mindfulness and meditation techniques as a part of their range of wellness programs. The aim is to reduce workplace stress, with IBM also offering programs focused on positive leadership, wellbeing and res...

Published on Mar 16, 2015

ReturntoWorkSA, formerly WorkCover SA, reports that $1 billion has been cleared from its unfunded liability, Courier Mail reports. "The board has dropped the 2015/16 average premium rate to 1.95 per cent (plus Work Health Safety fee), the lowest in the scheme’s his...

Published on Mar 16, 2015

Australian Public Service agencies report struggling to afford their workers' compensation costs, amidst a near doubling of premiums since 2011 and budget cuts imposed by the Abbott Government, Sydney Morning Herald reports. The ACT Government has responded by establishin...

Published on Mar 16, 2015

Joe Hockey wants to build a "grey army" of older workers in the workforce by changing prohibitive workers' compensation rules, Courier Mail reports. "If various WorkCover schemes or various laws are impeding increased participation by older Australians...in...

Published on Feb 23, 2015

A bill currently with the Australian Senate could see Comcare "opened up" to businesses through the removal of the national competition test, which may see injured workers being sidelines, writes Kevin Jones for Safety at Work Blog. Australian Lawyers Alliance ...

Published on Feb 23, 2015

Smartphones and tablets may hold the key to getting more nurses to diagnose patients with chronic health issues like obesity, smoking, and depression - three of the leading causes of preventable death and disability. Mobile devices loaded with a custom app that prompts clinic...

Published on Feb 16, 2015

There is compelling evidence that, in general, work is good for health and wellbeing. Long-term work absence, work disability and unemployment on the other hand have a negative impact on health and wellbeing. ACT Medicare Local has signed a collaborative agreement with Comcar...

Published on Feb 09, 2015

"Most people overestimate the benefits and underestimate the harms of medical tests and treatments," reports ABC News. New research finds that patients generally overestimate how beneficial their medical treatment will be, as well as underestimating potential harms ...

Published on Feb 02, 2015

Evidence is rapidly growing showing vital relationships between both diet quality and potential nutritional deficiencies and mental health, a new international collaboration led by the University of Melbourne and Deakin University has revealed.Published in The Lancet Psychiat...

Published on Feb 02, 2015

Anxiety levels for Australians is at a new high, according to the NAB Australian Wellbeing Index, as people worry about the cost of living, health care and employment, Business Insider reports. "Women aged over 50 now have the highest wellbeing across all demographi...

Published on Jan 26, 2015

"Over detection, over diagnosis and over treatment of people who would be better off left alone," is driving an unnecessary increase in doctors' fees, reports Sydney Morning Herald. "Over the past decade, the use of pathology and diagnostic imaging services...

Published on Jan 12, 2015

Mondaq reports on three recent cases that offer health and safety lessons for employers. “It is important for employers to be aware of their obligations under Federal and state WHS laws & regulations, in addition to the many codes, guidelines and safety standards th...

Published on Dec 29, 2014

Growing workplace psychological injury claims is prompting HR teams to devise counter strategies, HC Online reports. Henry Davis York partner and workplace health and safety law expert, Scarlet Reid said a rise in claims is causing companies to consider the workplace saf...

Published on Dec 29, 2014

A public servant assaulted while out farewelling a colleague has lost his bid for workers' compensation, Canberra Times reports. "The decision will remind federal bureaucrats they may not be covered for injuries at work-related farewell parties, particularly if ...

Published on Dec 15, 2014

The Conversation reports that poor quality work can be worse for you than no work at all. "Being in poor-quality work which, perhaps, is boring, routine or represents underemployment or a poor match for the employee’s skills is widely regarded as a good way fo...

Published on Dec 08, 2014

Working late into the night is a ruining your health and productivity, SBS News reports. According to research, any short-term gains in productivity associated with skipping sleep are quickly reversed for days to come thanks to the effects of sleep deprivation. "The...

Published on Nov 17, 2014

WorkCover Victoria Director of Claims Simon Bailey denies there is a “crisis” in the rise of stress-related compensation claims, Smart Company reports. Instead, Bailey says employers are failing in claim prevention and return to work. “If [workers]...

Published on Nov 17, 2014

Insurance premiums for the Australian Taxation Office's 20,000 workers are jumping $4 million per year on average, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. The ATO's workers compensation premium has risen 66 per cent over the past five years. "In 2013-14, 2930 mus...

Published on Nov 17, 2014

Workplace psychologists warn that at least one-third of Australian workplace stress claims are due to low morale, but are being misinterpreted as clinical disorders, The Age reports. An Australian Psychological Society conference heard that 30 per cent of compensation claims ...

Published on Nov 03, 2014

While Comcare has reported a $54.6 million operating surplus for 2013-14, compensation claim payouts have reached almost $1 billion over the past four years, Sydney Morning Herald reports. "The yearly cost of injured bureaucrats has steadily grown from $214.2 million in ...

Published on Oct 20, 2014

One Month to go! The focus of the 2014 Forum is "The Influence of mental health and psychosocial factors on recovery outcomes” If you are thinking of attending the 4th Australasian Compensation Health Research Forum (ACHRF) – the time to register is running o...

Published on Oct 20, 2014

MANAGING the mental health of fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) employees is a key priority of the wider workplace safety and wellbeing efforts of Australian resource employers, The Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA) has told a West Australian parliamentary inquiry. "Re...

Published on Oct 20, 2014

WorkCover NSW has officially apologised to senior manager Wayne Butler, a full 18 months after a court found he was persecuted and bullied by the organisation, Government News reports. In June 2013, The NSW Industrial Relations Commission found that WorkCover’s con...

Published on Oct 13, 2014

While the ABS reports the number of people working from home has doubled between 2001-2008, The Age reports that employers are still reluctant to utilise the practice. "Employers are always worried about whether or not it's going to be practical," said Garr...

Published on Oct 13, 2014

"Mental health is intimately connected with being connected, including to the labour market," reports The Australian. Despite this, ABS statistics show that 62 per cent of people with mental health conditions were employed in 2011-12, compared with 80 per cent of th...

Published on Sep 29, 2014

The Abbott government has begun working on reforms to Commonwealth workers' compensation schemes, reports Canberra Times. "Employment Department officials are working on changes that will attack the most controversial aspects of the Commonwealth's schemes –...

Published on Sep 29, 2014

Perfectionism is a bigger risk factor in suicide than we may think, says York University Psychology Professor Gordon Flett, calling for closer attention to its potential destructiveness, adding that clinical guidelines should include perfectionism as a separate factor for sui...

Published on Sep 22, 2014

ABC Radio National's Law Report investigates the revelation by a recent study that 53 per cent or workers' or transport accident compensation claimants find the process stressful, and have worse health outcomes than claimants who are less concerned about the comp...

Published on Sep 15, 2014

New industry-backed research urges superannuation funds and life insurers to focus on early intervention for mental illness, hoping to curb the growing cost of claims, Brisbane Times reports. "13 super funds covering more than a third of Australia's workforce in...

Published on Sep 15, 2014

Organisations and individuals involved with the Comcare and Seacare schemes have been recognised for their achievements in workplace health and safety, rehabilitation and return to work. "This year's entries were of extremely high quality, with the finalists demonstr...

Published on Sep 08, 2014

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal has supported the Federal government insurer's decision to stop paying for "physio for life" in one case of a public service worker, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. A former Defence Department worker had received 300 sessio...

Published on Sep 01, 2014

Perth Now reports on several workplaces leading the charge in taking proactive steps to make work a happier, healthier place. "For more than eight million Australians, one-third of their life is spent at work. With obesity rates climbing faster in this country than ...

Published on Sep 01, 2014

The Drum reports on the battle between prescription of addictive opioids, and controlling pain. "Prescriptions of oxycodone - the active ingredient in Oxycontin - have trebled in the past decade, according to Medicare records," reports The Drum. It is not known...

Published on Aug 24, 2014

Last year, 40,000 Australians had spinal cortisone injections in the hope of curbing pain in the lower back, arms, neck or legs. The Australian Financial Review reports that there is no reliable evidence to show these injections are effective. “These injections are...

Published on Aug 18, 2014

Just how far can private investigators go when surveilling workers' compensation claimants? The Australian follows the private worlds of two private investigators whose job it is to track claimants suspected of malingering. “We act as independent investigators ...

Published on Aug 11, 2014

ABC Radio National's Saturday Extra examines how we view stress and setbacks at work. In the podcast, which you can access from this headline link, Geraldine Doogue asks whether our identity is really more at stake when things go wrong in modern times, as compar...

Published on Aug 03, 2014

Insurance & Risk Professional reports on a bill presently before Federal Parliament that could allow multi-state companies to join Comcare, as self-insurers. The move could save businesses up to $30m per year. “We regard this bill as a game-changer in terms of reduc...

Published on Jul 27, 2014

Australia's largest life insurer TAL has become a signatory to the Australasian Consensus Statement on the Health Benefits of Work, released by the Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine of The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP). &quo...

Published on Jul 21, 2014

A YouTube video is helping medical professionals treat back pain, NPR reports. John Henning Schumann uses an 11-minute educational YouTube video, created by internet celebrity Dr Mike Evans, to help patients understand best-practice treatment. Watch the video here. ...

Published on Jul 20, 2014

Today marks the start of National Pain Week, which aims to de-stigmatise the experience of chronic pain. For the 6.1 million Australians living with a musculoskeletal condition (MSK) chronic pain is a part of their everyday lives. Follow this link for details on National Pain...

Published on Jul 20, 2014

"Naptivists" are advocating for the introduction of workplace mini-siestas, citing improvements in productivity, The Age reports. “There's almost no sick days or injuries, and virtually zero staff turnover. The workers understand that everyone puts in and ...

Published on Jul 20, 2014

The private sector remains hesitant to give people with disability a chance, despite government initiatives, writes Anne Bryce, CEO of Achieve Australia, for Pro Bono Australia. "Every day, through our Disability Employment Services we see the incredible impact of having...

Published on Jul 14, 2014

Adults with mental illness are twice as likely to use tobacco as adults without mental illness, according to a new report. "The smoking rate among adults with mental illness remains high...As a result, people with mental illness are at an increased risk of negative healt...

Published on Jul 13, 2014

Lounge facilities and living spaces are making an increasing appearance into modern workplace designs, The Canberra Times reports. David Gianotten, architect, says the trend towards activity-based work or ''hot desking'' will evolve into such "inform...

Published on Jul 05, 2014

Scientists from the Research School of Biology have opened the door to a new world of pain treatments with their discovery of the exact way that pain relief drugs work on the body. Dr Ben Corry and Lewis Martin developed a detailed computer model that revealed for the fi...

Published on Jul 05, 2014

The Greens are taking a proposal for a four-day work week to the NSW state election, Sydney Morning Herald reports. The purported health benefits of the four-day working week are argued to lead to reduced absenteeism and improved productivity. Interestingly, the NSW Busi...

Published on Jun 30, 2014

Brisbane Times has released a helpful list of state and territory resources for dealing with workplace bullying and harassment. Follow this link to the article. ...

Published on Jun 16, 2014

As little as two hours a day behind the wheel is a potential risk factor for a range of poor health behaviours and outcomes, a University of Sydney study has shown. Published in PLOS One journal, the study of nearly 40,000 Australians aged 47-75 years found that people who dr...

Published on Jun 01, 2014

ABC Radio National reports on new research by the George Institute for Global Health in Sydney and the University of Queensland investigating the effectiveness of treatment for whiplash. The researchers found that a 30 minute advice session with a physiotherapist works just a...

Published on May 26, 2014

New research released today by global workplace provider Regus revealed that in Australia, nearly half (49%) of employees in large firms (250+ employees) say that they dislike co-workers, compared to only 16% of small firms (less than 49 employees). Regus’ tips for impr...

Published on May 25, 2014

A rehabilitation specialist has warned that the Federal Government's budget could create a new underclass in Australia, ABC's AM reports. While Dr Caroline Howe, a lecturer in rehabilitation counselling at Sydney University, agrees that there are too many pension...

Published on May 18, 2014

This year, in the lead up to National Pain Week, Chronic Pain Australia is conducting two 'Living with Pain' surveys - one for people who live with chronic pain and one for those who care for someone with pain. The surveys will be an annual 'snapshot' of the e...

Published on May 12, 2014

With the Government earmarking cuts and service delivery mergers to the public service, Amanda O'Loughlin warns of the need for careful management, The Drum reports. O'Loughlin cites recent further Fairfax cuts as an example of an example not to follow. Organisat...

Published on May 04, 2014

Stress is contagious. Observing another person in a stressful situation can be enough to make our own bodies release the stress hormone cortisol. This is the conclusion reached by scientists involved in a large-scale cooperation project. Empathic stress arose primarily when t...

Published on Apr 27, 2014

In the lead up to National Pain Week this year, Chronic Pain Australia is conducting two 'Living with Pain' surveys - one for people who live with chronic pain and one for those who care for someone with pain. The surveys will present a 'snapshot' of the exper...

Published on Mar 31, 2014

Recent beyondblue research has found that while attitudes towards people with mental health problems are improving, many Australians consider people with depression as being "dangerous" and "weak willed", The Sydney Morning Herald reports. Beyondblue's...

Published on Mar 31, 2014

Prime Minister Tony Abbott's move towards cutting red tape will allow companies to opt-out of state workers' compensation schemes and instead move to the Commonwealth scheme, Comcare. "This change is likely to be counterproductive in an already messy system ...

Published on Mar 10, 2014

A new survey has found that people are more willing to disclose their experience of having a mental health problem and receiving treatment. "We know that people are better at recognising the symptoms of depression than they used to be. It is also possible that there is l...

Published on Feb 23, 2014

Concerns over rising hospital and health costs can be addressed in part by better utilising the skills of pharmacists in the provision of a range of professional services, said National President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, Grant Kardachi. Mr Kardachi was resp...

Published on Feb 23, 2014

A recent study has found that only one in four workers believes their managers do a good job, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. Further, three-quarters of workers believed they could do a better job than their managers. The findings are fresh from the recently-opened Ce...

Published on Jan 20, 2014

While searching for novel painkillers, a team of KU Leuven researchers came to the surprising conclusion that some candidate drugs actually increase pain. In a study published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology, the researchers show that a molecular switch in nerves respo...

Published on Jan 20, 2014

A new study from the University of Surrey, published today in the journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), found that the daily rhythms of our genes are disrupted when sleep times shift. Researchers placed twenty-two participants on a 28-hour day in a c...

Published on Jan 13, 2014

The Government has announced plans that would make it harder for some people to receive the Disability Support Pension permanently, ABC News reports. "More than 800,000 Australians receive up to $813 a fortnight on the pension, for people who are permanently blind or hav...

Published on Jan 13, 2014

According to Gallup, the 16% of Australian employees who are actively disengaged cost the country around $54.8 billion (AU). Part of this cost is attributed to differences in emotional health between engaged and disengaged workers. "Gallup's 2011-2012 employee engage...

Published on Jan 13, 2014

Bullying cases may dominate the Fair Work Commission due to a lack of adequate methods to avoid dubious claims, The Age reports. As of January 1 this year, any employee who believes he or she is the victim of ongoing ''repeated unreasonable behaviour'' by a co...

Published on Dec 16, 2013

Decades of research suggests that our happiness is comprised of three factors: genes, events and values, reports Business Insider. Around 50 per cent of our happiness is dictated by genetics, researchers suggest, while up to 40 per cent of happiness can temporarily be achieve...

Published on Dec 16, 2013

A Melbourne school is taking a stand against childhood obesity and idleness offering the world's first standing classroom, which may also improve learning. A grade six class at Mont Albert Primary School has been fitted with height-adjustable desks to allow the pupils to ...

Published on Dec 15, 2013

Daily exercise lessens many of the harmful physiological effects of short-term overeating and inactivity, shows a new study. Earlier studies have found that even a few days of energy surplus – where you consume more calories than you burn – brings detrimental heal...

Published on Dec 08, 2013

The national workplace injury compensation scheme Comcare has reported a $309 million budget blowout due to an increase in mental stress claims, News.com.au reports. "Psychological injury costs continue to rise and the length of time ill and injured people are away from ...

Published on Dec 02, 2013

A rise in claims against death, disability and income protection policies are causing insurers to increase premiums sold through superannuation funds, Business Spectator reports. The increase in life insurance premiums is set to take place over the coming six years, acco...

Published on Nov 25, 2013

Personal injury claims management has become so complex that the process increasingly requires tertiary-trained claims managers, Insurance Business Online reports. The demands placed on personal injury claims managers around Australia are substantial,” said Mr Paul Smea...

Published on Nov 25, 2013

Mondaq explores whether obtaining pre-existing injury details from prospective employees is a "hindrance or help." While recent changes to the Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 allow employers to both request that a prospective worker disclose pr...

Published on Nov 18, 2013

Life-insurer TAL has posted a reduction in half-year profit due to a higher than expected number of claims, The Age reports. ''The trends are quite remarkable,'' said Managing director Jim Minto. Mental health claims have grown over the past number of years. &...

Published on Nov 17, 2013

People suffering from chronic non-cancer pain and severe emotional distress, such as depression, anxiety and substance use, are likely to receive long-term opioid therapy despite a lack of evidence that this treatment helps, reports a new review in General Hospital Psychiatry...

Published on Nov 17, 2013

Almost 50% of Australian workers who had taken time off work because of depression kept the reason hidden from their employer according to a large scale national study released today by SANE Australia involving more than 1000 workers. The Impact of Depression at Work: Austral...

Published on Nov 17, 2013

GPs in Australia are working three hours less per week in direct clinical care, however they are dealing with more health problems per visit, research led by the University of Sydney shows. In 2012-2013, Australians claimed 126.8 million GP services through Medicare. People w...

Published on Nov 03, 2013

Our ability to exhibit self-control to avoid cheating or lying is significantly reduced over the course of a day, making us more likely to be dishonest in the afternoon than in the morning, according to findings published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association...

Published on Oct 28, 2013

AMP has warned it could lose up to $65m in its fourth-quarter as a result of difficulties with its income protection arm, Business Day reports. AMP's wealth protection arm, incorporating disability and income protection insurance, has seen a continued worsening in the num...

Published on Oct 20, 2013

Health anxiety has been treated by therapists expert in cognitive behaviour therapy with some specific benefit in some patients referred to psychological services. Following a pilot trial suggesting efficacy we carried out a randomised study in hospital medical clinics. At 1 ...

Published on Oct 20, 2013

People suffering from lumbago do not move as healthy people do. The pain and the fear of it change their way of moving. This partially explains how acute lumbago can in some cases become chronic. A researcher supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation has shown that p...

Published on Oct 06, 2013

Mental Health Week aims to activate, educate and engage Victorians about mental health through a week of interactive events across the state including an official launch, community festivals, art exhibitions, music, theatre and seminars. From its beginnings in 1985, the week ...

Published on Sep 28, 2013

Comcare has warned a group of PS managers in Canberra on Thursday that many leaders are not aware of their legal responsibilities, and that PS employees could face fines of up to $300,000 for serious cases of bullying, The Age reports. The warnings come amidst current cuts to...

Published on Sep 23, 2013

Comcare has contacted departments and agencies warning of the risk of psychological injuries associated with public service job cuts following the Coalition's election win, Canberra Times reports. The Abbott government has pledged to cut 12,000 public service jobs and imp...

Published on Sep 16, 2013

A new study conducted by Australian researchers suggests that four in five people who suffer from depression opt to suffer in silence rather than inform about their problems to their work colleagues. "One of the things is having a manager or people around them who seem t...

Published on Sep 09, 2013

Bill Eddy, CEO of the the High Conflict Institute, says we need to rethink the way we look at bullying. "To be honest, the problem is really a cultural one. The workplace culture must reject bullying, as there is little the individual worker can do. Successful programs a...

Published on Sep 01, 2013

Teachers who practice "mindfulness" are better able to reduce their own levels of stress and prevent burnout, according to a new study conducted by the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds (CIHM) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Waisman Center. Mindfulness, ...

Published on Aug 18, 2013

An independent investigation says "it is definitely not possible to describe the work culture at CSIRO as 'toxic'," despite 130 complaints of bullying or harassment, ABC news reports. Despite one submission suggesting CSIRO's bullying investigation proce...

Published on Aug 05, 2013

A new guide promoting mental health and wellbeing at work has been launched, Pro Bono Australia reports. Working together: Promoting mental health and wellbeing at work, is a joint initiative between the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) and Government workplace bod...

Published on Aug 05, 2013

Listen to a podcast by Dr Norman Swan, of ABC Radio National's Health Report, exploring the guidelines for back pain treatment. "In 2004 the NHMRC published guidelines for the best management of acute musculoskeletal pain. Researchers in Melbourne looked particularly...

Published on Aug 04, 2013

A report recently released by Safe Work Australia finds that there has been no improvement in our national return to work rates over the past 15 years, The Conversation reports. "Australia is no better at this in 2013 than we were 15 years ago," writes Alex Collie, ...

Published on Aug 04, 2013

Research to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behaviour, suggests that exposure to stress in the first few days of life increases stress respo...

Published on Jul 28, 2013

Corporate Health CEO Dr Doron Samuell spoke with ABC's Business Today about how bullying and stress are undermining Australia's bottom line. "Some people have estimated that [bullying] costs the country up to $30 billion, due to productivity losses, absenteeism a...

Published on Jul 28, 2013

A new guide has been launched by the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) and Comcare to help government agencies create mentally healthy workplaces. The guide, Working together: Promoting mental health and wellbeing at work, also aims to help the APS build workplace c...

Published on Jul 28, 2013

Bullying within the federal bureaucracy is being fuelled by federal budget cuts, The Age reports. The Community and Public Sector Union says that some recent court cases portrayed as dealing with "bizarre medical claims" are contributing to the "myth of the blu...

Published on Jul 28, 2013

A new study from mental health charity, SANE Australia, reports that stigma and discrimination against people with mental illness is widespread, harmful to recovery, and is a major barrier to participation in society for those affected. "Stigma is a major issue for peopl...

Published on Jul 21, 2013

This year National Pain Week will reach out to even more people than last year. People in pain often seek help through the Internet and this can be sometimes the only lifeline that they use when isolated at home due to pain. National Pain Week will be running a Virtual Festiv...

Published on Jul 21, 2013

The ACTU has called for proposed Codes of Practice on workplace bullying to be strengthened and combined with regulation which makes it a responsibility of employers to provide a bullying-free workplace. ACTU president Ged Kearney said that workplace bullying caused long-term...

Published on Jul 07, 2013

Workplaces have been urged to share their strategies on creating a ‘mentally healthy’ workplace culture as part of a national initiative launched to improve mental health in the workplace. The program is a collaboration with the Black Dog Institute, the National M...

Published on Jul 01, 2013

WorkSafe Queensland on Thursday released a YouTube video on safe manual handling practices. The video, called “No sprains, big gains,” seeks to educate workers and employers on avoiding manual handling injuries. It promotes WorkSafe Queensland’s PErforM tool...

Published on Jul 01, 2013

A report into work characteristics released by SafeWork Australia shows that certain workplace conditions and experiences can increase the risk of depression in workers. The report ‘The relationship between work characteristics, wellbeing, depression and workplace bully...

Published on Jun 23, 2013

More Australians are being killed by drug overdoses than car accidents, The Age reports. Health groups are urging governments to address the "silent epidemic" of prescription painkillers like Oxycodone and Fentanyl. Anex chief executive John Ryan said many people be...

Published on Jun 16, 2013

The life insurance industry has reported declines in value of over $1 billion, which they attribute to trouble getting big policy holders off claims, as well as a slowing economy, Business Day reports. Six of the largest insurers have reported that profits have not reached ex...

Published on Jun 09, 2013

Researchers report that a single, 20-minute session of Hatha yoga significantly improved participants’ speed and accuracy on tests of working memory and inhibitory control, two measures of brain function associated with the ability to maintain focus and take in, retain ...

Published on Jun 03, 2013

Business groups are concerned that Fair Work Australia may be inundated with bullying claims, as the Gillard government progresses with its national bullying crackdown, The Age reports. The suggestion of another avenue for bullying complaints has prompted fears that the measu...

Published on Jun 03, 2013

Nearly every working Australian will see a price rise in the life insurance premium component of their superannuation fund, Business Day reports. Super fund members around the country will see their life insurance premiums rise by up to 50% in some cases, though many may be u...

Published on May 06, 2013

A report published by the Federal Government calls for tougher medical scrutiny of the 10,000 public service workers currently claiming workers' compensation, The Canberra Times reports. The study was conducted by former Defence Department boss Allan Hawke, and is pa...

Published on Apr 28, 2013

Workplace and mental health experts fear an influx of workplace mental health claims following changes in how mental illness is defined in the latest version of the number one mental health diagnostic reference, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (...

Published on Apr 28, 2013

ABC Radio National's Breakfast interviews The Health Report's Dr. Norman Swan, who explains new evidence from the New England Journal of Medicine that "having X-Rays or MRI scans on your back are ineffective, possibly harmful." Swan explains: "What they...

Published on Apr 08, 2013

Safe Work Australia has released the first report devoted to work-related mental stress in Australia. Mental disorders arising from stress in the workplace have become an increasingly important concern for employees, employers and the general public as a whole. Mental di...

Published on Apr 01, 2013

The federal workers' compensation insurance scheme Comcare is under the spotlight after a government review urged reform to combat dubious psychological injury claims, doctor shopping, payouts for questionable therapies and outright fraud, The Age reports. Comcare lost ov...

Published on Sep 30, 2012

The ACTU alleges that Australian employers are increasingly attending employees' doctor appointments with the intention of altering medical certificates to hasten return to work, The Age reports. "The treatment of ill and injured workers is a growing concern," s...

Published on Sep 23, 2012

September marks the start of spring, with new research revealing this is the month when Australians’ vitamin D levels are at their lowest ebb. The University of Sydney study also shows vitamin D deficiency affects more Australians and lasts longer than previously believ...

Published on Sep 03, 2012

Treasury will announce that employment rates among mature-aged workers have grown over the past 10 years - especially so over the last three years, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. In the year to July, employment of people aged 55 and over grew 3.9 per cent. During the same...

Published on Aug 13, 2012

New research shows that single-officer patrols pose safety risks and an increased risk of stress, Adelaide Now reports. An Australian Institute of Criminology report found scant evidence to back the case that solo patrols are an effective policing tools. The report studied Au...

Published on Jul 23, 2012

This week, from the 22nd to 28th of July, is National Pain Week. It is hosted by Chronic Pain Australia, an organisation dedicated to reducing the social barriers to living with chronic pain. "The Festival of Hope is a first for Australia and akin to a mind/body/spirit e...

Published on Jul 11, 2012

The Personal Injury Education Foundation (PIEF) is hosting the Personal Injury Management Conference, this year focusing on Driving Outcomes That Work, and highlighting programs and initiatives that have excelled in the personal injury industry. Joining the conference as a ke...

Published on Jun 24, 2012

The latest national health statistics reveal we are living longer in better health, yet this is accompanied by growing health costs for an ageing population, The Age reports. Australia's Health 2012 report, released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, revea...

Published on Jun 17, 2012

Over 80 per cent of call centre workers said their work causes them to feel stressed, Press Association reports. A study of nearly 800 workers by Unison has found that the health and wellbeing of call centre staff is often compromised by their pressurised, target-driven and c...

Published on Jun 11, 2012

Kevin Jones at Safety At Work Blog responds to an article in The Age that queries why workplace bullying legislation - dubbed 'Brodie's Law - is still not yet being applied. Jones asks why the police force - whose role in the community is typically "reactive"...

Published on Jun 11, 2012

The Australian Human Rights Commission has called for the elimination of barriers to people working through their 60s and beyond, Aging Workforce reports. The commission issued a white paper, titled "Working Past Our 60s: Reforming Laws and Policies for the Older Worker,...

Published on Jun 11, 2012

The Health Department is calling for people to vaccinate against influenza after figures reveal that the number of people diagnosed with the flu this year have doubled compared with the same time last year, ABC News reports. 422 people were reportedly diagnosed with the flu i...

Published on Jun 03, 2012

Mental health organisation Beyondblue warns that the stress and anxiety caused by job insecurity could become a major public health problem in Australia, ABC News reports. Beyondblue CEO Kate Carnell says research shows that the casualisation of the Australian workforce is gi...

Published on May 27, 2012

The Federal Government has announed a plan for a parliamentary inquiry into the causes and extent of workplace bullying, ABC News reports. It will also consider proposals for preventing bullying culture from developing in the workplace. Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Workpl...

Published on Dec 23, 2019

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Published on Oct 03, 2016

Retail workers with more stable working schedules and longer lead-times before shifts have better physical and psychological health, a US study has found. Associate Professor Kristen Harknett used Facebook to recruit nearly 6,000 retail workers aged 18 to 50. After controll...

Published on Oct 03, 2016

"From apps to employee assistance programmes, forward-thinking employers are using a range of ways to support the wellbeing of their international assignees, expatriates and business travellers," writes Relocate Magazine. Helping globally mobile workers acclimatise to their new ...

Published on Sep 18, 2016

Each year VitalityHealth, the University of Cambridge, RAND Europe and Mercer survey UK employers and employees to determine Britain's Healthiest Workplaces. In 2016, the awards have recognised Nomura International Plc as the healthiest large workplace, adidas UK as th...

Published on Sep 18, 2016

Pizza Hut will offer staff training tackling stigma in the workplace, after teaming up with Mental Health UK to survey hospitality industry workers about mental health. The survey revealed that 93% of employees in the sector felt uncomfortable talking to their boss ab...

Published on Sep 04, 2016

According to the Canadian Alliance for Sustainable Healthcare, unmet mental healthcare needs cost the Canadian economy billions of dollars in lost productivity - and employers have an important role to play in fixing the problem. “A large proportion of working Cana...

Published on Aug 28, 2016

A new study finds that listening to music in the workplace can promote co-worker cooperation and support - but not any song will do. The hard rockers amongst us may be disappointed to learn that, when it comes to team-work inducing tunes, heavy metal loses out to positive, up...

Published on Aug 21, 2016

The Office Olympics were held in Canada last week, with employees at the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans competing in events including chair rowing, cardboard 'boxing' and 'wasketball'. “In order for team morale to be high and to have ...

Published on Jun 29, 2015

A researcher at the University of Sydney has found that between 1940 and 2014, the lifespans for musicians were up to 25 years shorter than the comparable US population. They were also found to be at greater risk of suicide, homicide and accidents. She questioned which other ...

Published on Jun 28, 2015

A New Zealand college has been ordered to pay $40,000 to a tutor after an incident occurred on his first day at work. He was teaching chainsaw operations as part of a forest operations course. Tree felling was not a part of the course. The tutor was severely injured when crus...

Published on May 24, 2015

In the US, bites and other injuries caused by dogs account for more than one third of all home insurance claims according to a report from the Insurance Information Institute. Although claims numbers are falling, the cost of claims continues to increase. California appears to...

Published on Mar 16, 2015

In a study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, researchers from the RAND Corporation report that for people receiving food assistance there are significant links between depression, poor dietary quality, and high body mass index (BMI). Depressi...

Published on Mar 16, 2015

The combination of stress and heavy depression can significantly increase heart patient’s risk of death or heart attack, according to new research. The study examined the effect of high stress levels and high depressive symptoms among nearly 5,000 heart patients. Resear...

Published on Mar 16, 2015

Many of us are walking around all the time in a fog caused by "social jetlag." That's what happens when we lose sleep because our daily schedules don't match our bodies' natural rhythms. The condition can be a particular problem for shift workers, who wo...

Published on Mar 09, 2015

 Patients with severe mitral regurgitation (MR) often suffer from psycho-emotional symptoms, such as depression and anxiety, but after undergoing mitral valve repair surgery patients experience a marked improvement in emotional and physical wellbeing, according to an art...

Published on Mar 09, 2015

A treatment known as mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) may decrease fasting glucose and improve quality of life in overweight and obese women, new research suggests. MBSR is a secular mindfulness meditation program that was developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD at the...

Published on Mar 09, 2015

Two in five (40%) UK employers have seen sickness absence rates improve over the past 12 months, according to research. Just under two-thirds (62%) of respondents said that the reduction in absence rates was down to good morale in the workplace. The research found that return...

Published on Mar 09, 2015

A new poll by the National Sleep Foundation finds that pain is a key factor in the gap between the amount of sleep Americans say they need and the amount they’re getting – an average 42 minute sleep debt for those with chronic pain and 14 minutes for those who&rsq...

Published on Mar 09, 2015

 A healthy lifestyle intervention program administered at the workplace and developed by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health significantly reduces risk factors for diabetes and heart disease, according to a study reported in the March issue of t...

Published on Mar 02, 2015

Genetic factors help to explain the commonly found association between low back pain and depression, suggests a large study of twins in the March issue of PAIN. Questionnaire responses from over 2,100 twins were analysed to determine whether participants with symptoms of depr...

Published on Mar 02, 2015

Employees who point out problems in the office may help the company improve, but could be hurting themselves in the process. Such negative-minded workers are more likely to become mentally fatigued and defensive and experience a drop-off in production, according to a new stud...

Published on Mar 02, 2015

Meditation might be an effective treatment for reducing chronic neck pain, according to research reported in The Journal of Pain. Chronic neck pain can lead to serious comorbidities like depression. Patients with chronic neck pain frequently experience distress. Meditation ha...

Published on Mar 02, 2015

There is some evidence that the UK ‘fit note,’ which replaced the ‘sick note’ in 2010 in the UK, is linked to fewer people taking long term sick leave of 12 or more weeks, reveals research published online in Occupational & Environmental Medicine. ...

Published on Mar 02, 2015

More than half of patients with symptoms of mental illness - and nearly one-third of those who also had diabetes - said their health care providers had never told them to exercise or reduce their intake of dietary fat, according to a new study. People with mental illness have...

Published on Feb 23, 2015

Stress is a staple of our lives today, and we know intuitively that it can influence our confidence in competing with others. But how exactly does stress do that? Scientists have found that stress can even be a cause of social inequality rather than just a consequence of it. ...

Published on Feb 23, 2015

Treadmill desks can help overweight or obese office workers get out of their chairs and get moving, but a 12-week study by an Oregon State University researcher found that the increase in physical activity was small and did not help workers meet public health guidelines for d...

Published on Feb 23, 2015

A study published today reveals a ‘spiral’ of abuse in which the victims of bullying become anxious, leaving them less able to stand up for themselves and more vulnerable to further harassment. The research suggests that employers should not only crack down on wor...

Published on Feb 23, 2015

Young and middle-aged women experience more stress than their male counterparts, which could contribute to worse recovery from acute myocardial infarction, according to a new study. “Women tend to report greater stress and more stressful life events than men, potentiall...

Published on Feb 16, 2015

Individuals with mental health disorders have a risk of mortality that is two times higher than the general population or than individuals without such disorders, according to a study published online by JAMA Psychiatry. The link between mental health disorders and mortality ...

Published on Feb 16, 2015

Over the past decade, there have been many encouraging findings suggesting that mindfulness training can improve a broad range of mental and physical health problems. Yet, exactly how mindfulness positively impacts health is not clear. Carnegie Mellon University’s J. Da...

Published on Feb 16, 2015

A massive 6.7% of the US population are affected by depressive disorders. As well as pessimism, irritability, pain and exhaustion, depression is also proven to affect communication and ability to maintain relationships. Depressed individuals are known to withdraw from negativ...

Published on Feb 16, 2015

Patients who increased doses of opioid medicines to manage chronic pain were more likely to experience an increase in depression, according to Saint Louis University findings in Pain. Previous research had found depression to be linked with patients' opioid use, but this ...

Published on Feb 09, 2015

Over the past decade, rising national wealth across high-income countries has contributed to some improvements in health and well-being among adolescents. But the gap in health between rich and poor has widened, an international study of nearly half a million adolescents from...

Published on Feb 09, 2015

New research finds that although pain thresholds and pain tolerance seemed unaffected by stress, there was a significant increase in pain intensification and a decrease in pain inhibition capabilities. "Stress can have positive repercussions in a challenging work environ...

Published on Feb 09, 2015

Only 15 percent of employed adults with asthma discussed with their doctor how work might affect their condition. However, of the employed adults with asthma, 46 percent had asthma that was possibly work-related. “Work-related asthma is under-diagnosed and under-recogni...

Published on Feb 02, 2015

"Wellness is more than just an obsession today," reveal authors Carl Cederstrom and Andre Spicer to the Sydney Morning Herald. "It's a moral demand...when health becomes an ideology, the failure to conform becomes a stigma." In an article published in ...

Published on Feb 02, 2015

It seems harmless: getting settled in for a night of marathon session for a favourite TV show, like House of Cards. But why do we binge-watch TV, and can it really be harmless? A recent study by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin found that the more lonely and d...

Published on Feb 02, 2015

New research has found that children whose parents experience time pressure are more likely to have mental health problems. "Parents’ experienced time pressure appears to be associated with the mental health of both girls and boys," said Hrafnhildur Gunnarsdot...

Published on Feb 02, 2015

Texting may be a more suitable treatment aid for those with mental illness than mobile applications. “Cell phone technology is in the hands of millions of Americans and early research indicates that this technology can be useful to help Americans who are suffering from ...

Published on Jan 26, 2015

ABC Health & Wellbeing have some post-holiday tips for building resilience at work. Building resilience is one way we can all reduce our stress at work and contribute to a more mentally healthy workplace, says Dr Sam Harvey, a psychiatrist with Black Dog Institute. T...

Published on Jan 26, 2015

Work is traditionally associated with negative connotations, writes Sydney Morning Herald, however the reality is that work is vital for good health. "This negative view of work neglects the experiences of those who are laid off or unemployed who want to work...Unem...

Published on Jan 26, 2015

Although nearly four in 10 workers wouldn’t tell their manager if they had a mental health problem, half said that if they knew about a coworker’s illness, they would desire to help, a new survey by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) shows. “S...

Published on Jan 26, 2015

A multi-institution team of sleep researchers recently found that workers who participated in an intervention aimed at reducing conflict between work and familial responsibilities slept an hour more each week and reported greater sleep sufficiency than those who did not parti...

Published on Jan 26, 2015

A psychosocially poor work environment means that employees experience highly demanding requirements but have little ability to control their work or not feel sufficiently appreciated for the contributions they make. A dissertation at The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Go...

Published on Jan 19, 2015

Worksite health promotion (WHP) programmes are designed to help identify and address health and lifestyle issues, and are offered by 40–75 per cent of employers in Europe and the US. But research suggests that a high proportion (50–75 per cent) of workers do not p...

Published on Jan 19, 2015

Having trouble sleeping? Then you are nearly one-and-a-half times more likely to eventually suffer from back pain, according to a new study. "After controlling for a range of variables, including socioeconomic status and lifestyle issues, we came to the conclusion that i...

Published on Jan 19, 2015

Some mental health workers find it difficult to recognise their own burnout. Even when they do, they struggle to admit it to others, says a new study. “Burnout has long been a problem in mental health workplaces and remains so despite much research and considerable know...

Published on Jan 19, 2015

Researchers report finding that exposure to long working hours was associated with higher odds of alcohol use. "Compared with working 35-40 hours a week, those working 49-54 and ≥55 hours experienced higher incidence of new onset risky alcohol use (>14 drinks/week ...

Published on Jan 19, 2015

"Obesity-attributable absenteeism among American workers costs the nation an estimated $8.65 billion per year," states a recent report. Researchers analysed nationally representative data to assess obesity-attributable workdays missed due to health, and the associat...

Published on Jan 19, 2015

Perfumes and fragrances can be an unrecognised cause of illness in the workplace, ABC Health and Wellbeing reports. "I see a lot of people who report problems from airborne exposure to perfumes," said Dr Colin Little. "For some of them, I think, it is just an i...

Published on Jan 12, 2015

Worksite health promotion (WHP) programmes are designed to help identify and address health and lifestyle issues, and are offered by 40–75% of employers in Europe and the US. But research suggests that a high proportion (50–75%) of workers do not participate. Rese...

Published on Jan 12, 2015

People having trouble sleeping are nearly one-and-a-half times more likely to eventually suffer from back pain, according to a new study conducted by the University of Haifa. “After controlling for a range of variables, including socioeconomic status and lifestyle issue...

Published on Jan 12, 2015

In a study of more than 5,500 school teachers to estimate the prevalence of depressive disorders in workers with burnout, 90% of the subjects identified as burned out met diagnostic criteria for depression. “The study suggests that the burnout-depression overlap has bee...

Published on Jan 12, 2015

Instead of an apple, could a hug-a-day keep the doctor away? "We know that people experiencing ongoing conflicts with others are less able to fight off cold viruses,” said researchers. “We also know that people who report having social support are partly prot...

Published on Jan 12, 2015

A health promotion program, called In SHAPE, specifically designed for people with serious mental illness, produced more fit participants and significant weight loss than a control group where participants only received a gym membership. "Upwards of 80 percent of people ...

Published on Dec 29, 2014

Having a strong identification with a social group, such as a choir or a sports club, can help protect you against mental illness. Researchers investigated the link between group identification - one’s sense of belonging to a group, coupled with one’s sense of com...

Published on Dec 29, 2014

Medical News Today brings us an evidence-based article outlining the ways in which we can be mentally and physically healthy in the new year. Areas to address include: healthy diet; regular exercise; sleeping more; managing stress; working, volunteering or having a hobby; and...

Published on Dec 15, 2014

Cutting-edge research has finally put to rest one of the most plaguing medical questions of our time: "Why are doctor's room magazines so old?" The research, conducted at a New Zealand GP waiting room, involved both "gossipy" and "non-gossipy"...

Published on Dec 15, 2014

Wellness plans are an increasing feature of the workplace, yet there's little evidence to support their effectiveness in improving the health of workers, NPR Blogs reports. "One thing we do know is that wellness is particularly popular with employers right now, ...

Published on Dec 15, 2014

By reviewing tweets from users who publicly mentioned their diagnosis and by looking for language cues linked to certain disorders, researchers say, they’ve been able to quickly and inexpensively collect new data on post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, bipolar di...

Published on Dec 15, 2014

Berkeley researchers have linked inflated or deflated feelings of self-worth to such afflictions as bipolar disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, anxiety and depression, providing yet more evidence that the widening gulf between rich and poor can be bad for your health...

Published on Dec 08, 2014

Give therapists and psychiatrists information about the biology of a mental disorder, and they have less - not more - empathy for the patient, a new Yale study shows. Conventional wisdom suggests that biological explanations for psychiatric symptoms should reduce the blame pa...

Published on Dec 08, 2014

People in the country's unhappiest communities spend about a quarter of the month so far down in the dumps that it can harm their productivity, according to economists. "This is a real concern not just in the United States, but across the world," said researcher...

Published on Dec 08, 2014

A team of researchers established a fully computerised treatment that does not require a therapist or other mental health specialist, only access to a computer. The new intervention, called the Cognitive Anxiety Sensitivity Treatment, or CAST, is a 45-minute treatment that co...

Published on Dec 08, 2014

Researchers have found some key markers for vulnerability to psychological problems in men experiencing cancer. A group of 127 men aged 18 and over with a cancer diagnosis were recruited. The participants were assessed for demographic factors, social support, anxiet...

Published on Dec 08, 2014

The more time you spend getting to and from work, the less likely you are to be satisfied with life, says a new Waterloo study. The research reveals exactly why commuting is such a contentment killer - and surprisingly, traffic isn’t the only reason to blame.  &ldq...

Published on Dec 01, 2014

From holiday parties to happy hours, social events with co-workers and clients often revolve around alcohol, which can put non-drinkers in an awkward position: they don’t want to drink, but they do want to take part in events they feel are important to networking and ca...

Published on Dec 01, 2014

An important factor for stress has been identified. This is the protein secretagogin that plays an important role in the release of the stress hormone CRH and which only then enables stress processes in the brain to be transmitted to the pituitary gland and then onwards to th...

Published on Dec 01, 2014

Group mindfulness treatment is as effective as individual cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in patients with depression and anxiety, according to a new study from Swedish researchers. “The study’s results indicate that group mindfulness treatment, conducted by c...

Published on Dec 01, 2014

Women with symptoms of serious mental illness are significantly less likely to receive three routine cancer screenings – Pap tests, mammograms and clinical breast exams – than women in the general population, despite being at elevated risk for medical comorbiditie...

Published on Dec 01, 2014

People whose jobs require more complex work with other people, such as social workers and lawyers, or with data, like architects or graphic designers, may end up having longer-lasting memory and thinking abilities compared to people who do less complex work, according to new ...

Published on Nov 24, 2014

Activated through permanent stress, immune cells will have a damaging effect on and cause changes to the brain. This may result in mental disorders. A German research team focused mainly on a certain type of phagocytes, namely microglia. Under normal circumstances, they repai...

Published on Nov 24, 2014

A new study finds that having job authority increases symptoms of depression among women, but decreases them among men. “Women with job authority — the ability to hire, fire, and influence pay — have significantly more symptoms of depression than women witho...

Published on Nov 24, 2014

Obese workers miss more work days, and those absences carry high costs at the state and national level, according to a study in the November Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. “Obesity-attributable absenteeism among American workers costs the nation an ...

Published on Nov 24, 2014

A major new UK research centre to tackle the impact of musculoskeletal disorders on people’s ability to work has been announced. “We’re planning a number of specific research projects that could have important impacts on policy and on the management of muscu...

Published on Nov 17, 2014

Whether or not a given individual’s brain can deal effectively with stress, and thus their susceptibility to depression, depends on a single protein type in each person’s brain, according to a new study. “While most prior efforts in antidepressant drug disco...

Published on Nov 17, 2014

New research shows that when employers offered financial incentives, employees were 33 times more likely to participate in telephone health coaching, and did so sooner, than employees without incentives. Telephone health coaching – one-on-one phone calls with a personal...

Published on Nov 17, 2014

Major depressive disorder (MDD) should be re-conceptualised as an infectious disease, according to Turhan Canli, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychology and Radiology at Stony Brook University. MDD remains highly prevalent disease with some 15 to 20 percent of the population e...

Published on Nov 10, 2014

"Workaholism is the rare mental health issue that can often have positive rewards in the short term -- namely, the praise of a happy boss," reports Huffington Post. Psychologist Bryan Robinson refers to workaholism “the best-dressed mental health problem.&rdqu...

Published on Nov 10, 2014

Researchers from Rhode Island and The Miriam hospitals and the Stanford University School of Medicine have found that prescription opioids, including methadone, were involved in 67.8 percent of (or over 135,971 visits to) nationwide emergency department (ED) visits in 2010. &...

Published on Nov 10, 2014

New study results bolster the adage that “heart healthy is brain healthy.” The investigation shows neighbourhoods that motivate walking can stave off cognitive decline in older adults. "When the environment presents challenges that are reasonable and within a...

Published on Nov 10, 2014

A UCL-led study of 9,050 English people with an average age of 65 found that the people with the greatest wellbeing were 30% less likely to die during the average eight and a half year follow-up period than those with the least wellbeing. “These analyses show that the m...

Published on Nov 03, 2014

There is a general correlation between unemployment and suicide among men. But the weaker the unemployment protection in the country, the stronger the connection. These findings are reported in a comparative study covering thirty countries, focusing the impact of the Great Re...

Published on Nov 03, 2014

Imagine this scenario: You’ve been feeling persistently blue lately, so you pull out your phone. Instead of asking Siri to tell you a joke, though, you open an app that records you simply talking about your day. A few hours later, your therapist sends you a message aski...

Published on Nov 03, 2014

A multifaceted approach to teaching coping mechanisms may help critical care nurses better handle their stressful work environment, according to a study in the November issue of American Journal of Critical Care (AJCC). “Helping nurses develop stronger coping strategies...

Published on Nov 03, 2014

Even mild depressive symptoms can weaken the outcome of lumbar spinal stenosis surgery, according to a recent study completed at the University of Eastern Finland and Kuopio University Hospital. Patients with depressive symptoms had a weaker functional capacity post-surgery e...

Published on Nov 03, 2014

Walking workstations can improve not only physical, but also mental health during the workday, a new study released this week found. “We found that the walking workstations, regardless of a person’s exercise habits or body mass index (BMI), had significant benefit...

Published on Oct 27, 2014

A new study published in The Journal of Pain reports that 39 million people in the United States or 19 percent have persistent pain, and the incidence varies according to age and gender. The authors noted that persistent pain correlated with other indices of health-related qu...

Published on Oct 27, 2014

People facing mental health challenges are significantly more likely to have heart disease or stroke, according to a new study. "This population is at high risk, and it's even greater for people with multiple mental health issues," says Dr. Katie Goldie. The stu...

Published on Oct 27, 2014

Analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs used against muscle pain and arthritis may have a beneficial effect on depression symptoms. Ordinary over the counter painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs purchased from pharmacies may also be effective in the treatment of people suff...

Published on Oct 20, 2014

Being physically active three times a week reduces the odds of being depressed by approximately 16%, according to new UCL research undertaken as part of the Public Health Research Consortium. The study, published in JAMA Psychiatry, found a two-way relationship between depres...

Published on Oct 20, 2014

Women are more likely to develop anxiety and depression after a heart attack (myocardial infarction; MI) than men, according to new research. “The World Health Organization predicts that by 2020 depression will be the second leading cause of disability and mortality in ...

Published on Oct 13, 2014

Payscale.com reports on five tips for making your workplace mentally healthier. The approaches include tips for fostering: Employee involvement; Employee growth and development; Employee recognition; Health and safety; and Work life balance. Click the heading link for more de...

Published on Oct 13, 2014

"Employees suffering from high stress levels have lower levels of engagement, are less productive and have higher absentee levels than those not operating under excessive pressure," reports Management Issues.com. New research found that 57 per cent of employees clai...

Published on Oct 13, 2014

Patients with a psychological cognitive disorder known as catastrophising are more likely to develop persistent, chronic pain after surgery, according to new research. Pain catastrophising occurs when a patient has an irrational and illogical focus on pain, perceiving that it...

Published on Oct 13, 2014

In western society, where keeping up with the Joneses - or, better yet, surpassing them - is expected and even encouraged, status matters. So important is it that for many people, physical and emotional wellbeing are directly connected to their place in the social hierarchy. ...

Published on Oct 06, 2014

Medical News Today reports on an editorial from the Canadian Medical Association Journal that investigates continuing widespread stigma surrounding depression. "On a global scale, [the burden of depression] is greater than that of diabetes or tuberculosis," wri...

Published on Oct 06, 2014

While chronic stress increases the risk of poor mental and physical health, not everyone is affected the same way. Some cope well, but for others - especially those most likely to sweat the small stuff - chronic stress can be harmful. New research from Concordia University ha...

Published on Oct 06, 2014

A study by San Diego State University psychology professor Jean M. Twenge shows Americans are more depressed now than they have been in decades. Analysing data from 6.9 million adolescents and adults found that Americans now report more psychosomatic symptoms of depression, s...

Published on Oct 06, 2014

University of Adelaide psychiatry researchers have developed a model that could help to predict a patient's likelihood of a good outcome from treatment - from their very first psychotic episode. The model is based on a range of factors, including clinical symptoms, cognit...

Published on Oct 06, 2014

 Ache, agony, distress and pain draw more attention than non-pain related words when it comes to people who suffer from chronic pain, a York University research using state-of-the-art eye-tracking technology has found. "We now know that people with and without chron...

Published on Sep 29, 2014

Stress can diminish the quality of sleep and increase your risk of insomnia, Huffington Post reports. "According to the American Psychological Association's Stress in America survey, 43 percent of adults say that stress causes them to lie awake at night, and mor...

Published on Sep 29, 2014

They are common suggestions to remedy stress: You just need a breath of fresh air. Walk it off. Get out and see people. Turns out all those things combined may in fact make you feel better – a lot better – a new large-scale study suggests. Group nature walks are l...

Published on Sep 29, 2014

Fruit and vegetable consumption could be as good for your mental as your physical health, new research suggests. The research found that high and low mental wellbeing were consistently associated with an individual’s fruit and vegetable consumption. 33.5% of respondents...

Published on Sep 29, 2014

Physical exercise has many beneficial effects on human health, including the protection from stress-induced depression. However, until now the mechanisms that mediate this protective effect have been unknown. In a new study in mice, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Swe...

Published on Sep 22, 2014

New York Times reports on a new study of low-tech treatments for plantar fasciitis, suggesting relief can be found with a few simple exercises. "Until recently, first-line treatments involved stretching and anti-inflammatory painkillers such as ibuprofen or cortison...

Published on Sep 22, 2014

Individuals living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods have worse musculoskeletal pain outcomes over time after stressful events such as motor vehicle collision than individuals from higher socioeconomic status neighbourhoods, even after accounting for individual characteristics ...

Published on Sep 22, 2014

Impossible deadlines, demanding bosses, abusive colleagues, unpaid overtime: all factors that can lead to a burnout. But when it comes to mental health in the workplace, the influence of home life must also be considered to get the full picture. A study shows that fewer menta...

Published on Sep 15, 2014

Attending work while suffering a depressive illness could help employees better manage their depression more than taking a sickness absence from work, a new study has found. "We found that continuing to work while experiencing a depressive illness may offer employees cer...

Published on Sep 15, 2014

A report reveals that people who stopped driving and started walking or cycling to work benefited from improved wellbeing. In particular, active commuters felt better able to concentrate and were less under strain than if they travelled by car. These benefits come on top of t...

Published on Sep 15, 2014

Brief online mindfulness interventions requiring only two hours of training and practice per week are effective at reducing fatigue and negative work-related rumination and at improving sleep quality. Persistent work-related rumination, in particular where individuals experie...

Published on Sep 15, 2014

As the amount of time employees spend at their desks increases, so does musculoskeletal discomfort and other health issues associated with the office environment. New research demonstrates that a comprehensive and proactive workplace ergonomics program can help to prevent dis...

Published on Sep 08, 2014

There is significantly less chance of older veterans experiencing posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety and thoughts of suicide when they resist negative age stereotypes, a new nationally representative study by the Yale School of Public Health has found. Researchers surveye...

Published on Sep 08, 2014

Despite the availability of effective evidence-based treatment, about 40% of individuals with serious mental illness do not receive care and many who begin an intervention fail to complete it. While stigma is one of many factors that may influence care seeking, it is one that...

Published on Sep 08, 2014

Some people take stress in stride; others are done in by it. New research at Rockefeller University has identified the molecular mechanisms of this so-called stress gap in mice with very similar genetic backgrounds — a finding that could lead researchers to better under...

Published on Sep 08, 2014

Not surprisingly, unsolicited job leads tended to relieve depression symptoms in people who were not employed full time or were unhappy with their financial situation. But researchers were surprised to see that similar offers increased feelings of depression in people who had...

Published on Sep 01, 2014

"Fears of opioid abuse and addiction might be keeping patients with advanced cancer from getting enough pain medicine," reports Reuters. According to a recent report in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, pain undertreatment is estimated to affect half of all cancer p...

Published on Sep 01, 2014

Thirty-five percent of polled American workers would be happy to forego a significant pay increase in exchange for having their boss let go, Robert E. Hall writes. "Disengagement is a defining mega-trend in today’s world," writes Hall. "Gallup report...

Published on Sep 01, 2014

Three recently-published papers reveal that around three-quarters of cancer patients who have major depression are not currently receiving treatment for depression, and that a new integrated treatment programme is strikingly more effective at reducing depression and improving...

Published on Sep 01, 2014

'Green' offices with plants make staff happier and more productive than 'lean' designs stripped of greenery, new research shows. In the first field study of its kind, published today, researchers found enriching a 'lean' office with plants could increa...

Published on Aug 24, 2014

A New Jersey man celebrated his 101st birthday at work, as well as 73 years working for the same employer, Brisbane Times reports. Herman Goldman still works four days per week for a light fitting company. "Apart from a brief absence to serve in the US Army in World War ...

Published on Aug 24, 2014

New research finds that, contrary to popular opinion, it can be good to feel bad at work. Feeling good in the workplace can also lead to negative outcomes. The commonly-held assumption that positivity in the workplace produces positive outcomes, while negative emotions lead t...

Published on Aug 24, 2014

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a complex autoimmune disease that affects 1 to 2 percent of adults, requires patients to not only cope with pain, disability and joint disfigurements, but also other stressors such as disrupted work, family life and marital functioning. While many p...

Published on Aug 24, 2014

A mindfulness-based therapy for depression has the added benefit of reducing health-care visits among patients who often see their family doctors, according to a new study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences ...

Published on Aug 24, 2014

The odds that a person who suffers from severe, nonchronic depression will recover are improved by as much as 30 percent if they are treated with a combination of cognitive therapy and antidepressant medicine rather than by antidepressants alone. “Our results indicate t...

Published on Aug 18, 2014

Shift workers are taking drugs to help them stay awake or get to sleep despite weak evidence for their benefit, according to a new Cochrane review. The authors of the review found only small numbers of trials testing over-the-counter and prescription drugs used by shift worke...

Published on Aug 18, 2014

Children with high everyday levels of a protein released into the blood in response to infection are at greater risk of developing depression and psychosis in adulthood, according to new research which suggests a role for the immune system in mental illness. “Our immune...

Published on Aug 18, 2014

Managers experience significantly less stress when they feel they have a good relationship to their employees, and the employees show a positive conduct and confidence in their managers, a new study shows. “The best thing a manager can do to prevent work stress, is to d...

Published on Aug 18, 2014

While some suggest that flexible work arrangements have the potential to reduce workplace inequality, a new study finds these arrangements may exacerbate discrimination based on parental status and gender. "These results demonstrate how cultural notions of parenting...

Published on Aug 11, 2014

“Doctor shopping,” the growing practice of obtaining narcotic prescriptions from multiple providers, has led to measurable increases in drug use among postoperative trauma patients. “There has been an alarming rise in opioid use in our country, and the diver...

Published on Aug 11, 2014

Job strain can significantly increase the risk of developing diabetes, according to a new study. Workplace stress can have a range of adverse effects on health with an increased risk of cardio-vascular diseases in the first line. Roughly one in five people in employment is af...

Published on Aug 11, 2014

Office workers with more light exposure at the office had longer sleep duration, better sleep quality, more physical activity and better quality of life compared to office workers with less light exposure in the workplace, reports a new study from Northwestern Medicine and th...

Published on Aug 11, 2014

Mental health coaching significantly eased depression and reduced blood sugar levels in people with diabetes, according to a pilot study. A significant number of people with diabetes suffer from depression, which can interfere with their ability to participate in self-care ac...

Published on Aug 04, 2014

A new e-memo for the boss: Online breaks at work can refresh workers and boost productivity. A study opens a rare avenue of research into coping with technology-induced distractions in our contemporary society. The researchers outlined three consequences of online work breaks...

Published on Aug 04, 2014

Scientists studying depression in teens have discovered that subtle changes in a gene can predict how the brain reacts to stress, which can cause such health issues as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and obesity. "The findings of the current study and our ongo...

Published on Aug 03, 2014

Some people can handle stressful situations better than others, and it’s not all in their genes: Even identical twins show differences in how they respond. Researchers have identified a specific electrical pattern in the brains of genetically identical mice that predict...

Published on Aug 03, 2014

A new study finds that use of electroacupuncture (EA) – a form of acupuncture where a small electric current is passed between pairs of acupuncture needles – produces significant improvements in fatigue, anxiety and depression in as little as eight weeks for early...

Published on Jul 28, 2014

Neurobiologist and psychologist Dr Angela Duckworth has studied thousands of people to understand how they've achieved success, The Age reports. "In all of these different contexts, one characteristic emerged as a predictor for success. It wasn't social intellige...

Published on Jul 27, 2014

Paracetamol is no more effective than a placebo for relieving back pain, according to a new study - Sydney Morning Herald reports. Surprisingly, the Sydney University research is the first large-scale trial comparing paracetamol to placebo for treatment of back pain. &qu...

Published on Jul 27, 2014

People diagnosed with depression need to step out for a cigarette twice as often as smokers who are not dealing with a mood disorder. And those who have the hardest time shaking off the habit may have more mental health issues than they are actually aware of. Yet a bit more e...

Published on Jul 27, 2014

Workplaces may need to consider innovative methods to prevent fatigue from developing in employees who are obese. Based on results from a new study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene (JOEH), workers who are obese may have significantly shorter ...

Published on Jul 20, 2014

A new study shows that stress may play a role in the development of obesity. "It may seem counterintuitive, but our body needs fat tissue in order to function properly...stress or inflammation can disrupt the process of fat tissue development, which could have a negative...

Published on Jul 20, 2014

A telephone-delivered intervention, which included automated symptom monitoring, produced clinically meaningful improvements in chronic musculoskeletal pain compared to usual care. “The intervention was effective, even though most trial participants reported pain that h...

Published on Jul 13, 2014

A third of British workers admit to having "pulled a sickie", and it's costing the UK around £9 billion per year, Personnel Today reports. New research by PriceWaterhouseCoopers found that the most common reasons cited for taking unauthorised tim...

Published on Jul 13, 2014

BMW has given workers unique 3D printed thumb brackets in an effort to reduce strain, pain and injury, and to improve efficiency, The Guardian reports. Each thumb is essentially a custom orthotic, made to fit by 3D scanning a worker's finger, and replicated using 3D print...

Published on Jul 05, 2014

Poor physical health and financial health are driven by the same underlying psychological factors, finds a new study from Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis. Researchers found that the decision to contribute to a retirement plan predicted whether ...

Published on Jul 05, 2014

Mindfulness meditation has become an increasingly popular way for people to improve their mental and physical health, yet most research supporting its benefits has focused on lengthy, weeks-long training programs. New research from Carnegie Mellon University is the first...

Published on Jul 05, 2014

A new study is the first to identify specific coping behaviours through which stress exposure leads to the development of insomnia. Results show that coping with a stressful event through behavioural disengagement – giving up on dealing with the stress – or b...

Published on Jun 30, 2014

Excessive alcohol use accounts for one in 10 deaths among working-age adults ages 20-64 years in the United States, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published today in Preventing Chronic Disease. Excessive alcohol use led to approximat...

Published on Jun 30, 2014

Women with chronic physical illnesses are more likely to use mental health services than men with similar illnesses; they also seek out mental health services six months earlier than those same men, according to new study from St. Michael’s Hospital and the Institute fo...

Published on Jun 30, 2014

Psychological distress in people with disabilities is associated with increased prevalence of other chronic conditions and reduced access to health care and preventive care services, finds a new study in the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved. “We found...

Published on Jun 30, 2014

Depression is common in cancer, up to half of all patients facing the disease experience depressive symptoms, ranging from mild to severe. When depression co-exists with cancer, patients may be at an increased risk of death from cancer and from suicide. Antidepressants a...

Published on Jun 30, 2014

Research by the University of Sydney has found that older Australians are taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for too long and without sufficient precautions to minimise harmful side-effects. NSAIDs are commonly used to treat pain and inflammation associated...

Published on Jun 22, 2014

A recent systematic review and meta-analysis of universal interventions for depression in the workplace has found that universally delivered workplace mental health interventions can reduce the level of depression symptoms among workers. Depression is a major public...

Published on Jun 22, 2014

A new study published online in the International Journal of Epidemiology (IJE) today shows that while job loss is associated with depressive symptoms in both the USA and Europe, the effects of job loss due to plant closure are much stronger in American workers as compared wi...

Published on Jun 22, 2014

In a recent study published in Tobacco Control, researchers at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute have demonstrated the cost-effectiveness of the Ottawa Model for Smoking Cessation (OMSC), an intervention that includes in-hospital counselling, pharmacotherapy and post-h...

Published on Jun 22, 2014

Researchers at the University of Alberta are exploring the traditional Japanese massage practice called shiatsu as a potential treatment to help chronic pain sufferers find slumber - and stay asleep. A small pilot study followed nine people living with chronic pain as they se...

Published on Jun 16, 2014

Many people develop depression in the latest stages of life, but until now doctors had no idea that it could point to a build up of a naturally occurring protein in the brain called beta-amyloid, a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. In fact, late-life depression could becom...

Published on Jun 16, 2014

Researchers have long understood there is a strong association between diabetes and depression. But new research shows that symptoms of depression in people with type 2 diabetes can be significantly reduced through interventions for “diabetes distress,” suggesting...

Published on Jun 16, 2014

A new study appearing in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery links the use of opioid pain relievers (prescription medications, such as Percocet) to less improvement and higher levels of dissatisfaction following spine surgery. Between 1999 and 2010, a greater focus on ...

Published on Jun 09, 2014

Standardised research methods are needed to make greater progress toward reducing the high burden and costs of chronic low back pain (cLBP), according to a Task Force report in the June 15 issue of Spine. The article introduces a set of proposed research standards to hel...

Published on Jun 09, 2014

A new study shows that college students who are poor sleepers are much more likely to earn worse grades and withdraw from a course than healthy sleeping peers. Results show that sleep timing and maintenance problems in college students are a strong predictor of academic probl...

Published on Jun 08, 2014

Employees at small businesses are less likely to have access to worksite wellness programs, according to a research review in the May Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. But smaller companies that can overcome the barriers and implement wellness programs ...

Published on Jun 08, 2014

If you’re depressed, don’t get enough exercise or have high blood pressure, you may find yourself complaining more about memory problems, even if you’re a young adult, according to a new UCLA study. UCLA researchers and the Gallup organisation polled mo...

Published on Jun 02, 2014

If your goal is to lose weight and maintain optimal health and fitness, the quality of your exercise and diet regimen matters more than the quantity, says Skidmore College exercise scientist Paul Arciero. 

Arciero is very familiar with the exercise and diet recom...

Published on Jun 02, 2014

New York Times writes on employee engagement in Why You Hate Work. "Around the world, across 142 countries, the proportion of employees who feel engaged at work is just 13 percent. For most of us, in short, work is a depleting, dispiriting experience, and in some obvious...

Published on Jun 01, 2014

Researchers studying a group of adults undergoing hemodialysis found patients' higher rates of depression and anxiety could be associated with their impaired physical exercise capability and reduced daily physical activity. "Adults undergoing dialysis often have...

Published on Jun 01, 2014

We all deal with stress differently. For many of us, stress is a great motivator, spurring a renewed sense of vigor to solve life’s problems. But for others, stress triggers depression. Researchers have identified the group of neurons in the brain that determines how a ...

Published on Jun 01, 2014

Online and mobile applications for stress management and healthy eating reach a large number of users but their appeal tends to be short-lived, according to a doctoral thesis by Research Scientist Kirsikka Kaipainen from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. Applications ...

Published on May 26, 2014

Employers planning to implement mandatory influenza vaccination policies for health care workers need to understand the implications, according to an analysis published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). Vaccination rates among health care workers in Canada are l...

Published on May 25, 2014

Clarkson University Assistant Professor of Psychology Jennifer Knack's research into bullying focuses on the relationship between social pain and physical pain. “My work seeks to understand why some people who are bullied get sick and others don’t,”...

Published on May 25, 2014

Serious mental illnesses reduce life expectancy by 10 to 20 years, an analysis by Oxford University psychiatrists has shown – a loss of years that's equivalent to or worse than that for heavy smoking. Oxford researchers say their figures on life expectancy should ga...

Published on May 19, 2014

Providing patient-centred care consistently in clinical practice requires practitioners who are able to recognise that different clinical situations require different approaches and are skilled enough to adapt. Across the range of health-care problems, patient-centred care ha...

Published on May 18, 2014

A new study in the American Journal of Health Promotion finds that, on average, a morbidly obese employee costs an employer over $4,000 more per year in health care and related costs than an employee who is of normal weight. The study also revealed that obese individuals...

Published on May 18, 2014

Can psychological intervention help women adapt to the stresses of breast cancer? It appears that a brief, five-week psychological intervention can have beneficial effects for women who are dealing with the stresses of breast cancer diagnosis and surgery. Intervening during t...

Published on May 18, 2014

A shortened version of a questionnaire used by psychologists to assess risk factors for obsessive-compulsive disorder also may help determine the risk of depression and anxiety, according to a Baylor University study. The revision may be a good fit for assessing the risk of m...

Published on May 12, 2014

More than a million people are treated for mild traumatic brain injuries in U.S. hospitals and emergency rooms each year. Yet few receive appropriate psychological and social follow-up care that can make the difference in whether or not they fully recover. A University of Was...

Published on May 12, 2014

A few minutes spent filling out a widely accepted mental health assessment in a health care provider’s waiting room could make a big difference for some teenagers suffering from depression, according to new study from a UT Arlington nursing researcher. Sharolyn Dihigo, ...

Published on May 12, 2014

Primary care teams that include both psychologists and physicians would help address known barriers to improved primary health care, including missed diagnoses, a lack of attention to behavioural factors and limited patient access to needed care, according to health care expe...

Published on May 12, 2014

Whether we make them with a person or company, promises are social contracts, says Ayelet Gneezy of the University of California, San Diego. While researchers have explored the negative consequences of breaking promises, until now, they have not explored what happens when som...

Published on May 12, 2014

Perceived age and weight discrimination, more than perceived race and sex discrimination, are linked to worse health in older adults, according to new research from the Florida State University College of Medicine. Older adults who perceived weight discrimination and older ad...

Published on May 04, 2014

Here’s another reason to drop that doughnut and hit the treadmill: A new study suggests aerobic fitness affects long-term memory. Michigan State University researchers tested 75 college students during a two-day period and found those who were less fit had a harder time...

Published on May 04, 2014

A study from the Case Western Reserve University nursing school provides a profile of women with the dual responsibilities of full-time paid work and unpaid care for an elderly family member. “We often hear caregivers talk about ‘how much time and effort it t...

Published on May 04, 2014

Low levels of physical capability (in particular weak grip strength, slow chair rise speed and poor standing balance performance) in midlife can indicate poorer chances of survival over the next 13 years, while greater time spent in light intensity physical activity each day ...

Published on May 04, 2014

Pushing a shopping cart or a vacuum doesn’t take a lot of effort, but enough of this sort of light physical activity every day can help people with or at risk of knee arthritis avoid developing disabilities as they age, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study.&nb...

Published on May 04, 2014

“When someone says of an obese person, ‘They should just eat less and exercise more,’ I say if it were that simple, obesity wouldn’t be the worldwide epidemic that it is.” That’s according to Dr. Claude Bouchard, a faculty fellow of the Tex...

Published on Apr 27, 2014

When the task at hand requires some imagination, taking a walk may lead to more creative thinking than sitting, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. “Many people anecdotally claim they do their best thinking when walking,” sai...

Published on Apr 27, 2014

Depression affects more than one out of three survivors of critical illness, according to a Vanderbilt study released in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, and the majority of patients experience their symptoms physically rather than mentally. Weakness, appetite change and fati...

Published on Apr 27, 2014

The trope that the likelihood of an accurate group decision increases with the abundance of brains involved might not hold up when a collective faces a variety of factors - as often happens in life and nature. Instead, Princeton University researchers report that smaller grou...

Published on Apr 21, 2014

If you are trying to quit smoking one method to incorporate is to do new, exciting “self-expanding” activities that can help with nicotine craving. “Our study reveals for the first time using brain imaging that engaging in exciting or what we call ‘sel...

Published on Apr 21, 2014

A new study in the analysing weekly patterns in health-related Google searches reveals a recurring pattern that could be leveraged to improve public health strategies. Investigators analysed "healthy" Google searches (searches that included the term healthy and were...

Published on Apr 21, 2014

Employees who pursue creative activities outside of work may find that these activities boost their performance on the job, according to a new study by San Francisco State University organisational psychologist Kevin Eschleman and colleagues. Creative pursuits away from work ...

Published on Apr 20, 2014

Researchers may have identified key genes linked to why some people have a higher tolerance for pain than others, according to a study. “Our study is quite significant because it provides an objective way to understand pain and why different individuals have different p...

Published on Apr 14, 2014

Business Insider reports on a number of studies suggesting that open offices make workers distracted, exhausted and insecure. "Psychological privacy...leads to higher performance and satisfaction." If workers don't have "architectural privacy", they wo...

Published on Apr 14, 2014

Heart patients with beliefs about health that aren’t based on medical evidence are more likely to skip sessions of cardiac rehabilitation, new research suggests. In the Ohio State University study, a higher number of these beliefs – referred to as “irrationa...

Published on Apr 14, 2014

Understanding why pain persists despite structurally successful spinal surgery is a question that has long puzzled physicians. In a study that melds the interrelated domains of spinal surgery and pain medicine, researchers have discovered that in the transition from acute inf...

Published on Apr 14, 2014

A meta-analysis of studies that investigated measures designed to improve health professionals’ interactions with patients confirms that such efforts can produce health effects just as beneficial as taking a daily aspirin to prevent heart attack. While it has long been ...

Published on Apr 14, 2014

Optimistic older adults who see the glass as half full appear to have a reduced risk of developing heart failure. Researchers from the University of Michigan and Harvard University found that optimism—an expectation that good things will happen—among people age 50...

Published on Apr 07, 2014

New research by Andrew Stokes, a doctoral student in demography and sociology in the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, suggests that many obesity studies substantially underestimate the mortality risks associated with excess weight in the United S...

Published on Apr 07, 2014

Walking while you work may not only improve an employee’s health, it may also boost productivity, according to new research from the University of Minnesota just published in PLOS ONE. Carlson School of Management professor of Work and Organizations Avner Ben-Ner and hi...

Published on Apr 07, 2014

A third of intensive care patients develop depression that typically manifests as physical, or somatic, symptoms such as weakness, appetite change, and fatigue, rather than psychological symptoms, according to one of the largest studies to investigate the mental health and fu...

Published on Apr 07, 2014

 Moderate to severe depression increases the risk of heart failure by 40%, a study of nearly 63 000 Norwegians has shown. Ms Lise Tuset Gustad, first author of the study and an intensive care nurse at Levanger Hospital in Norway, said: “We found a dose response rel...

Published on Mar 31, 2014

Stigmatisation may have once served to protect early humans from infectious diseases, but that strategy may do more harm than good for modern humans, according to Penn State researchers. Stigmatising and ostracising members stricken with infectious diseases may have helped gr...

Published on Mar 30, 2014

A mentally demanding job may stress you out today but can provide important benefits after you retire, according to a new study. "Based on data spanning 18 years, our study suggests that certain kinds of challenging jobs have the potential to enhance and protect wor...

Published on Mar 30, 2014

Low back pain disability linked to workplace factors accounts for a third of all work related disability around the globe, indicates research published online in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. Agricultural sector workers and those aged between 35 and 65 seem to be...

Published on Mar 24, 2014

Discussions with a dietary coach to learn about healthy eating were as effective as meeting with a counsellor for problem-solving or “talk” therapy in preventing major depression among older black and white adults with mild symptoms of the mood disorder, according...

Published on Mar 24, 2014

Researchers from the from the Department of Economics at the University of Warwick have tested the theory that happier workers are more productive, with interesting results, Futurity reports. Their findings, from studies involving over 700 participants, are to be published in...

Published on Mar 17, 2014

Your answers on psychological questionnaires, including some of the ones that some employers give their employees, might have a distinct biological signature. New research indeed demonstrates overlap between what workers feel and what their bodies actually manifest. This is a...

Published on Mar 16, 2014

Back pain is a significant problem in America. In 2010, more than 10 million people experienced back pain. More than 200,000 of these patients are diagnosed with a herniated disc. Employees who experience back pain miss an average of 26 days of work and spend nearly 34 days i...

Published on Mar 16, 2014

Patient requests for specific medications - including requests for brand-name drugs spurred by direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising - have a substantial impact on doctors’ prescribing decisions, suggests a study in the April issue of Medical Care. Half of the &ldqu...

Published on Mar 16, 2014

New UCLA research suggests that the more muscle mass older Americans have, the less likely they are to die prematurely. The findings add to the growing evidence that overall body composition - and not the widely used body mass index, or BMI - is a better predictor of all-caus...

Published on Mar 16, 2014

The importance of boosting self-esteem is normally associated with the trials and tribulations of adolescence. But new research from Concordia University shows that it’s even more important for older adults to maintain and improve upon those confidence levels as they en...

Published on Mar 16, 2014

Stratified or targeted care of back pain implemented by family doctors leads to ‘significant’ improvements for patients and a 50% reduction in work absence - without an increase in healthcare costs. A team at the Arthritis Research UK Primary Care Centre at K...

Published on Mar 10, 2014

A survey of Australian accident victims has found that the stress of submitting an injury claim can increase the likelihood of poor health outcomes in the future, Reuters reports. Stress caused by process, delays and related medical assessments can all lead to higher levels o...

Published on Mar 10, 2014

Walking while you work may not only improve an employee’s health, it may also boost productivity, according to new research from the University of Minnesota just published in PLOS ONE. Carlson School of Management professor of Work and Organizations Avner Ben-Ner and hi...

Published on Mar 10, 2014

Happiness is more than just a feeling; it is something we can all practise on a daily basis. But people are better at some ‘happy habits’ than others. In fact, the one habit that corresponds most closely with us being satisfied with our lives overall – self-...

Published on Mar 10, 2014

Within the health care industry and beyond, daily exposure to stress can lead to negative consequences for employees both on and off the job – from apathy and burnout to physical illness or mental impairments. New Open Access research published in Journal of Workplace B...

Published on Mar 02, 2014

An extensive review of scientific literature indicates that depression should be added to the list of risk factors associated with heart disease. A 12-person panel of experts made the recommendation to the American Heart Association (AHA). “Many studies have reported th...

Published on Mar 02, 2014

The workplace plays a vital role in creating a suicide safe community, according to a new position statement released by Suicide Prevention Australia (SPA). The Statement calls on organisations of all sizes to implement workplace policies and programs that promote a mentally ...

Published on Mar 02, 2014

A new study in General Hospital Psychiatry finds patients visiting the hospital for a variety of ailments can be easily screened for depression and anxiety as they wait for care, information that can then be sent immediately to their doctor to address. The test included quest...

Published on Mar 02, 2014

Mental health stigma is a key factor preventing people from accessing the care they need, according to new research from King’s College London. The new study, published today in Psychological Medicine, brings together data from 144 studies, including over 90,000 partici...

Published on Mar 02, 2014

Many children are admitted to general acute wards with mental health problems mistaken for physical disease. Somatic symptoms, such as abdominal pain, headaches, limb pain and tiredness, often mask underlying problems and result in the NHS spending money on investigations to ...

Published on Mar 02, 2014

Don’t blame other commuters if you catch a cold this winter: blame the people who designed your office. According to a study published in the current issue of Ergonomics, workplace layout has a surprising effect on rates of sick leave. Long suspected by the employees wh...

Published on Mar 02, 2014

“Social” pain hurts physically, even when we see it in others. The distress caused by social stimuli (e.g., losing a friend, experiencing an injustice or more in general when a social bond is threatened) activates brain circuits related to physical pain: as observ...

Published on Feb 23, 2014

A team of researchers at the University of Iowa measured physical activity in police, whose jobs are presumably predicated on movement. Yet the group found that police officers burn as much energy on the job as someone sitting while holding a baby or washing dishes. “We...

Published on Feb 23, 2014

Repetitive motion injuries are a growing problem in the US, resulting in an average of 23 days away from work – three times the number of days from other injuries. Shoulder injuries are the most common repetitive motion injury reported and the second most frequent injur...

Published on Feb 23, 2014

Musculoskeletal pain of the bone, joint and muscles is one of the most common reasons for primary care visits. The majority of chronic pain complaints concern the musculoskeletal system, but they also include headaches and abdominal pain. “As orthopaedic surgeons, we ar...

Published on Feb 17, 2014

Mental health issues cost the UK around GBP 70 billion every year, or roughly 4.5% of GDP, in lost productivity at work, benefit payments and health care expenditure. Better policies and practices by employers and the health system are needed to help people deal with mental h...

Published on Feb 16, 2014

Feeling extreme loneliness can increase an older person’s chances of premature death by 14 percent, according to research by psychologist John Cacioppo. Cacioppo and his colleagues’ work shows that the impact of loneliness on premature death is nearly as strong as...

Published on Feb 16, 2014

New research suggests that merely thinking about money diminishes the meaning people derive from parenting. The study is one among a growing number that identifies when, why, and how parenthood is associated with happiness or misery. Researchers found that activating goals fo...

Published on Feb 16, 2014

Health professionals who treat people with psychiatric problems often overlook their patients’ smoking habits, assuming it’s best to tackle depression, anxiety or substance abuse problems first. However, new research at Washington University School of Medicine in ...

Published on Feb 16, 2014

Researchers have shown that chronic stress generates long-term changes in the brain that may explain why people suffering chronic stress are prone to mental problems such as anxiety and mood disorders later in life. Their findings could lead to new therapies to reduce the ris...

Published on Feb 16, 2014

Can initial modes of behaviour be used to predict how fit and healthy a person will be 18 years later? In their study, researchers used a four-stage biopsychosocial model to identify mutual interactions of health-relevant factors. Initial nutrition and physical exercise were ...

Published on Feb 10, 2014

Practising mindfulness online reduces stress, anxiety and depression, finds the University of Oxford in partnership with the Mental Health Foundation. Research published in BMJ Open reveals participants saw a 58% reduction in anxiety, 57% in depression and 40% in perceived st...

Published on Feb 10, 2014

Scientists have found that people who feel powerless actually see the world differently, and find a task to be more physically challenging than those with a greater sense of personal and social power. The study is the first demonstration that power – a ‘psychosoci...

Published on Feb 09, 2014

A report published today provides strong evidence that the symptoms of depressive disorder are causally associated with the risk of coronary heart disease, and as such should be considered a potentially modifiable risk factor for the occurrence of CHD. European prevention gui...

Published on Feb 09, 2014

With nearly one-third of Americans suffering from chronic pain, prescription opioid painkillers have become the leading form of treatment for this debilitating condition. Unfortunately, misuse of prescription opioids can lead to serious side effects—including death by o...

Published on Feb 09, 2014

Women living in rural communities are less likely than urban-dwelling women to receive sufficient mental health care, in large part due to limited access to services and societal stigma, according to medicine and public health researchers. Some reports indicate that rural wom...

Published on Feb 09, 2014

While the results of smoking may be expected to decrease fitness, new research, published in Respirology, has found that smokers are less physically active, lack motivation and are more likely to suffer symptoms of anxiety and depression. When smokers were asked to rate their...

Published on Feb 03, 2014

The less education you have, the more your attitude counts when it comes to staying alive and well. That’s the finding of a new study conducted by personality researchers from the University of Rochester and Brandeis University. They found that adults without college de...

Published on Feb 03, 2014

A recent study by researchers from Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health suggests that development of new childhood obesity cases, or incidence, is largely established by kindergarten. The study showed that overweight kindergarteners were four times as likely as norma...

Published on Feb 03, 2014

There are sleep cycles and there are also weight loss cycles. Almost everyone loses weight on weekdays and gains weight on weekends. What separates the slim from the heavy isn’t how much more they gain on weekends. It’s how much they lose during the weekdays, repo...

Published on Feb 03, 2014

One way to cope with stress, according to a new study from Sarah Townsend, assistant professor of management and organisation at the USC Marshall School of Business, is to share your feelings with someone who is having a similar emotional reaction to the same scenario. Townse...

Published on Feb 03, 2014

Despite great advances in prevention and treatment, cancer may soon edge out heart disease as the leading cause of death in the United States, reports New York Times. A growing contingent of experts warns we may be contributing to cancer rates due to an increase in the use of...

Published on Jan 27, 2014

Primary care physicians seeking to determine whether a patient’s drug or alcohol use is problematic often have to rely on lengthy questionnaires containing dozens of items with multiple response options. But a new study led by a BU School of Public Health researcher sug...

Published on Jan 27, 2014

Levels of depression and anxiety in people with severe rheumatoid arthritis are higher than previously reported, according to new research. As a result of their findings, a multi-centre team led by researchers at the Arthritis Research UK Centre for Genetics and Genomics at T...

Published on Jan 27, 2014

Conventional wisdom holds that gossip and social exclusion are always malicious, undermining trust and morale in groups. But sharing this kind of “reputational information” could have benefits for society, according to a new study. “Groups that allow their m...

Published on Jan 27, 2014

When physicians spend too much time looking at the computer screen in the exam room, nonverbal cues may get overlooked and affect doctors’ ability to pay attention and communicate with patients, according to a Northwestern Medicine study. the study found that doctors wh...

Published on Jan 27, 2014

Patients feel safer – and likely are safer – when they receive a surgical safety checklist and request that their health care providers use it, suggests a pilot study. Use of the World Health Organization (WHO) Surgical Safety Checklist (SSC) has been reported to ...

Published on Jan 27, 2014

Symptoms such as insomnia and emotional distress account for much of the work impact of mental health problems such as depression and anxiety, reports a study in the February issue of Medical Care. Many adults who don’t have a formal psychiatric diagnosis still have men...

Published on Jan 20, 2014

Married men are 25 per cent more likely to be obese compared with their single counterparts, Medical Daily reports. A study of 2,300 young people, published in the journal Families, Systems & Health, found that married men were 25 percent more likely to be overweight or o...

Published on Jan 20, 2014

People who enjoy life maintain better physical function in daily activities and keep up faster walking speeds as they age, compared with people who enjoy life less, according to a new study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. "The study shows that older people w...

Published on Jan 20, 2014

Government policies that allow both parents to take time off after a child is born provide positive benefits for the physical and mental health of women, according to a literature review that looked at the influence of public policies on women’s overall health. “B...

Published on Jan 20, 2014

Having a bad boss can lead to disengagement - the number one cause of staff loss, Forbes reports. Margie Warrell suggests that rather than planning to quit because of a bad boss, people can use the situation to upskill. "Having worked with numerous not-so-inspiring bosse...

Published on Jan 13, 2014

A common surgical knee procedure was found to work no better than a fake operation, suggesting that thousands of patients are undergoing unnecessary surgery, New York Times reports. A new study focused on people with a torn meniscus - cartilage that helps cushion the knee - a...

Published on Jan 12, 2014

Researchers have found that exercise plays a role in how individuals feel they can manage their work-life balance. “Individuals who exercised regularly were more confident they could handle the interaction of their work and home life and were less likely to be stressed ...

Published on Jan 12, 2014

Workplace wellness programs can lower health care costs in workers with chronic diseases, but components of the programs that encourage workers to adopt healthier lifestyles may not reduce health costs or lead to lower net savings, according to a new RAND Corporation study. E...

Published on Dec 16, 2013

A head injury can lead immune-system brain cells to go on “high alert” and overreact to later immune challenges by becoming excessively inflammatory – a condition linked with depressive complications, a new animal study suggests. The findings could help expl...

Published on Dec 15, 2013

University of Alberta researchers have developed a new web-based tool to aid health professionals in determining the right treatment course for injured workers, helping them feel better and get back to work earlier. Researchers used a form of artificial intelligence called ma...

Published on Dec 15, 2013

Women being treated with breast cancer drugs known as aromatase inhibitors can markedly ease the joint pain associated with the drugs by engaging in moderate daily exercise, a new study reports. After a year, joint pain scores decreased by 20 percent among the women in the ex...

Published on Dec 08, 2013

Vitamin D decreases pain in women with type 2 diabetes and depression, according to a study conducted at Loyola University Chicago. Type 2 diabetes is associated with depression and pain. Researchers tested the efficacy of weekly vitamin D2 supplementation (50,000 IUs) for si...

Published on Dec 08, 2013

Parental stress is linked to weight gain in children, according to a new study from St. Michael’s Hospital. The study found that children whose parents have high levels of stress have a Body Mass Index, or BMI, about 2 per cent higher than those whose parents have low l...

Published on Dec 08, 2013

Research from North Carolina State University shows that working a job that doesn’t keep 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. hours can hurt the relationships between parents and adolescents, increasing the likelihood that children will engage in delinquent behaviours. However, the researc...

Published on Dec 08, 2013

Rapid rehabilitation is a must after a heart attack or other cardiovascular event. Different forms of exercise as a part of rehabilitation have been examined by researchers, including high-intensity interval training (85-95 % of maximum heart rate), which has proved to be bot...

Published on Dec 08, 2013

Results of the analysis showed that cell phone use was negatively related to GPA and positively related to anxiety. Following this, GPA was positively related to happiness while anxiety was negatively related to happiness. Thus, for the population studied, high frequency cell...

Published on Dec 08, 2013

It's never too late to get physically active, with even those starting relatively late in life reaping significant health benefits, finds research published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Four years of sustained regular physical activity boosted the lik...

Published on Dec 02, 2013

People who exercise regularly are better at creative thinking. This is the outcome of research by Leiden cognitive psychologist Lorenza Colato. She published an article on this subject in the scientific magazine Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. Colzato investigated whether re...

Published on Dec 02, 2013

People with health insurance are more likely to use preventive services such as flu shots and health screenings to reduce their risk of serious illness, but they are no more likely than people without health insurance to engage in risky health behaviours such as smoking or ga...

Published on Dec 02, 2013

Social activity and health correlate in old age, but less is known about what explains this association. The results of a study carried out in the Gerontology Research Center showed that part of the association between social activity and mortality was mediated by mobili...

Published on Dec 02, 2013

Mental and physical illnesses necessarily impact upon the lives of the relatives of those afflicted by them, all the more so in families where a member has a mental illness, because they suffer more discrimination. The results are based on a study carried out in 28 countries....

Published on Dec 02, 2013

People who suffer with chronic musculoskeletal pain face a daily struggle with their sense of self and find it difficult to prove the legitimacy of their condition. A new study published today in the Health Services and Delivery Research journal, highlighted: Patients struggl...

Published on Nov 25, 2013

Within the hospitality industry, manager support for fun is instrumental in reducing employee turnover, particularly for younger employees, according to a team of researchers. However, manager support for fun also reduces employee productivity, which can negatively impact sal...

Published on Nov 24, 2013

Cigarette smokers who are over 65 years of age may be able to lower their risk of cardiovascular disease-related deaths to the level of never-smokers when they quit faster than previously reported, according to research presented at the American Heart Association’s Scie...

Published on Nov 24, 2013

Men who are unemployed for more than two years show signs of faster ageing in their DNA, a new study has found. Researchers measured structures called telomeres, which lie at the ends of chromosomes and protect the genetic code from being degraded. Telomeres become shorter ov...

Published on Nov 17, 2013

A study published this week in PLOS Medicine reports the most recent and comprehensive estimates on how much death and disability is attributable to depression, both world-wide and in individual countries and regions. When compared to other diseases and injuries, major depres...

Published on Nov 11, 2013

Rigorous clinical practice guidelines could help physicians reduce rates of opioid misuse and overdose deaths among patients with chronic pain, according to an article published in Annals of Internal Medicine. Researchers reviewed 13 published opioid prescribing guidelines to...

Published on Nov 11, 2013

New human and animal research released today demonstrates how experiences impact genes that influence behaviour and health. Today's studies, presented at Neuroscience 2013, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world's largest source of emerging n...

Published on Nov 10, 2013

Workaholics work hard, but still have poor job performance—mainly because of high mental and physical strain, according to a study in the November Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Researchers analysed survey responses from a sample of more than 300 pr...

Published on Nov 10, 2013

New research from the University of Adelaide has found that chronic pain in women is more complex and harder to treat than chronic pain in men. "There are fundamental differences in the experience of pain between females and males," says Dr Hutchinson, whose researc...

Published on Nov 10, 2013

Childhood neglect and abuse, whether physical or psychological, confers a lifetime vulnerability to stress, anxiety, and mood problems. Such early-life stress is also suspected to contribute to the development of chronic pain in adulthood. In fact, there is growing concern th...

Published on Nov 10, 2013

New studies released today underscore the potential impact of healthy lifestyle choices in treating depression, the effects of aging, and learning. The experiences and choices people make throughout life actively impact the brain. As humans live longer, these choices also aff...

Published on Nov 03, 2013

Knowing who your doctor is — and a couple of facts about that person — may go a long way toward improving patient satisfaction, according to a Vanderbilt study in the Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma. Faced with the knowledge that between 82 percent and 90 percent of...

Published on Nov 03, 2013

Opioid analgesics, or prescription-based narcotic pain killers, have long been known to reduce pain, but reports of adverse effects and addiction continue to surface. a team of investigators led by a Saint Louis University researcher has discovered a link between chronic use ...

Published on Nov 03, 2013

The combined toll of occupational, recreational and environmental noise exposure poses a serious public health threat going far beyond hearing damage, according to an international team of researchers writing this week in The Lancet. The review team, including a Perelman Scho...

Published on Nov 03, 2013

Doctors commonly tell patients that stress can be harmful to their health. Yet when it comes to reducing their own stress levels, physicians don’t always heed their own advice. Part of the problem, according to researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, is that ...

Published on Nov 03, 2013

Patients who are unrealistically optimistic about their personal health risks are more likely to take preventive action when confronted with news that is worse than expected, while unrealistic pessimists are less likely to change their behaviour after receiving feedback that ...

Published on Oct 27, 2013

First empirical study of business etiquette and smartphones shows how mobile manners vary by gender, age and region, with important implications for hiring, career advancement and business efficiency. Unlike rudeness among friends, discourteous behaviour in the workplace can ...

Published on Oct 27, 2013

Population-level studies have indicated that insufficient sleep increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes. These diseases are known to be linked to inflammatory responses in the body. University of Helsinki researchers have now shown what kinds of biol...

Published on Oct 27, 2013

The media is peppered with anecdotes that seem to provide evidence of women’s superiority over men at multitasking. But while past research has shown that women are involved in more multi-tasking than men, there have been few scientific studies that have interrogated th...

Published on Oct 27, 2013

With a long history of seemingly universal acceptance, the practice of hazing is an enduring anthropological puzzle. "Hazing exists in radically different cultures around the world...It is a practice that cultures continually rediscover and invest themselves in." Ha...

Published on Oct 21, 2013

A New York Times article explains the growing phenomenon of "paying it forward" at drive-through restaurants across America. In certain places in the United States, "it’s not unusual for the driver of the car in front of you to pay for your meal in the ti...

Published on Oct 21, 2013

Bold and outgoing or shy and retiring - while many people can shift from one to the other as circumstances warrant, in general they lean toward one disposition or the other. And that inclination changes little over the course of their lives. "If personality traits, like ...

Published on Oct 20, 2013

A study by psychologists at the University of Liverpool has found that traumatic life events are the biggest cause of anxiety and depression, but how a person thinks about these events determines the level of stress they experience. Researchers from the University’s Ins...

Published on Oct 20, 2013

Three new studies show just how critical it is for adults to seek treatment for a sleep illness and aim for seven to nine hours of sleep each night in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle. One study of 2,240 adults is the first to examine the link between obstructive sleep a...

Published on Oct 20, 2013

Doctors who make a lot of eye contact are viewed as more likable and empathetic by patients, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study. Patients also gave doctors higher empathy scores when their total visit length was longer and when doctors engaged in a few "socia...

Published on Oct 14, 2013

The Belgian government has proposed a law that would see doctors visiting workers at home to confirm the reported illness, The Independent reports. Workers who've called in sick would be required to stay at home for a four-hour period, between 7am and 8pm, so a doctor can...

Published on Oct 14, 2013

New statistics from Mind released today suggest that stressed workers are suffering in silence and employers aren’t doing enough to tackle stress. 45 per cent of workers polled by the charity said that staff are expected to cope without mentioning stress at work and a t...

Published on Oct 14, 2013

Psychological interventions halve deaths and cardiovascular events in heart disease patients, according to research from Athens, Greece, presented at the Acute Cardiac Care Congress 2013. The researchers found that the addition of psychological interventions reduced mortality...

Published on Oct 14, 2013

We may make mistakes interpreting the emotions of others, but our brain can correct us. It so happens that we interpret other people's emotions based on our own and thus sometimes make mistakes. Luckily our brain is equipped with correction devices: scientists at the Inte...

Published on Oct 14, 2013

A protein that is increased by endurance exercise has been isolated and given to non-exercising mice, in which it turned on genes that promote brain health and encourage the growth of new nerves involved in learning and memory, report scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Instit...

Published on Jul 17, 2016

A young concreter was killed four years ago when struck by a 39 metre boom in Canberra. He did not have a will. His mother didn't think he was in a serious relationship, but he had been seeing a woman for eight months. The young woman lodged the claim for the death benefi...

Published on May 15, 2016

A woman began working in the crisis-planning team at Airservice Australia as a coordinator, tasked with developing and instituting training and emergency plans around Australia. She lacked relevant experience to work effectively in the role and was not provided with training....

Published on Apr 17, 2016

A worker at the Australian Federal Police has had her compensation win overturned after a successful appeal by Comcare. The worker alleged that she was sexually harassed, bullied and intimidated by her colleagues in Canberra. The claim focused on a meeting in 2013, but she al...

Published on Mar 28, 2016

Trades Unions in the ACT are objecting to changes in the workers' compensation system. These changes are expected to impact over 20,000 public servants in the ACT, including emergency services workers, teachers and numbers. The government is in discussions with the coalit...

Published on Mar 06, 2016

Eight unions have raised concerns about changes to the ACT workers compensation system, however the government states that the changes are far from being finalised. The ACT is looking at removing its public service workers from the Comcare scheme, believing it can get better ...

Published on Sep 21, 2015

The sick note system is being replaced with the fit note system in the ACT. The new system which allows doctors to nominate workers for phased RTW, alternative hours, get-well programs or changes in the workplace, is set to be rolled out across 400 general practitioners aroun...

Published on Jul 12, 2015

According to a new report from Safe Work Australia, ACT construction sites are the most dangerous in the country. The territory suffered 29 serious injury claims during 2012-2012, while in Victoria there were just 12.9, despite the large difference in population size. ACT'...

Published on Mar 09, 2015

Since leaving national workers' compensation insurer Comcare, the ACT government appears set to develop a new workers' compensation scheme for public service workers, The Mandarin reports. The plan would see WorkSafe ACT responsible for regulating both safety and...

Published on Mar 02, 2015

The ACT territory's government reportedly became increasingly dissatisfied with the federal workplace insurer in the lead up to the decision. The issues included the bill for premiums approaching $1b and the slow pace of change in Comcare - and they are not alone. The Aus...

Published on Feb 16, 2015

A chronic pain case sparked by office ergonomics problems has led to an 18-month legal dispute over workers' compensation, Canberra Times reports. A former ATO employee's desk had had "major" adjustments made, with instructions from the employer warning to &...

Published on Nov 24, 2014

Researchers from the Australian National University's Research School of Chemistry have made a large amount of a strong anti-inflammatory and analgesic drug. Currently, the molecule is only found in minuscule quantities in a rare coral found off the Bahamas. "Wh...

Published on Oct 27, 2014

ACT government bureaucrats lodged 3.6 mental health claims per 1000 workers in 2013-14, compared with 1.9 claims per 1000 workers from the Australian Public Service, Sydney Morning Herald reports. The figures come from evidence to a Senate Estimate hearings by Comcare th...

Published on Oct 20, 2014

Changes to public service workers' compensation legislation planned by the Federal Government have been called "harsh, unjust" and "gratuitously mean" by the Opposition, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. Labor says the changes will leaveover 160,000 p...

Published on Sep 08, 2014

A public servant has lost appeal for workers' compensation over his claim that a telephone call with his boss left him psychologically unfit for work, The Sydney Morning Herald Reports. "The Administrative Appeals Tribunal has ruled that an Australian Taxation O...

Published on Jul 27, 2014

Department of Employment deputy secretary Jennifer Taylor will replace Comcare's current CEO Paul O'Connor as his term expires late next month, Sydney Morning Herald reports. "Comcare is facing many challenges in the coming years including improving return-to-wor...

Published on Jul 13, 2014

Sydney Morning Herald reports on changes to Comcare that would see public servants injured on a coffee break away from the office not compensated. The changes would deny bureaucrats hurt via ''serious and wilful misconduct'' or by ''voluntarily an...

Published on Apr 27, 2014

WorkSafe ACT has released a report accusing the ACT government of failing to properly investigate bullying claims made by an intensive care paramedic against senior staff, Canberra Times reports. The finding has prompted union calls for involvement of an external body to ...

Published on Apr 07, 2014

The ACT government has the fourth-highest insurance premium of 120 government organisations covered by Comcare, reports Canberra Times.  The territory's workers' comp insurance premium for the 2013-14 period rose 14 per cent on the previous year. This was mostly ...

Published on Mar 24, 2014

Comcare has released data and a press release stating that while "many employers across the APS are working to reduce workplace harm and return their ill and injured people to work...The data shows that still more needs to be done." The press release encourages &quo...

Published on Mar 24, 2014

Changes tabled in Parliament yesterday will see public service workers no longer entitled to workers' compensation if they are injured while on a break away from their workplace, Canberra Times reports. Further amendments will also see no compensation payments made to wor...

Published on Nov 05, 2013

The Government has committed to reforming Comcare, but won't commit to a schedule for change, Canberra Times reports. Comcare lost $98 million in the 2012-13 year, with long-term liability payments totalling over $2.6 billion. Public Service Minister Eric Abetz has signal...

Published on Oct 28, 2013

Comcare's latest advice for detecting workers' compensation fraud includes directing government employees to check their claimant colleagues' Facebook page, Canberra Times reports. The circular released by Comcare, Fraud: What Suspicious Behavior Looks Like, tells...

Published on Aug 05, 2013

There are concerns that the new head of the WorkCover Independent Review Office (WIRO) may have breached staff procurement rules, News.com.au reports. Finance Minister Greg Pearce appointed Kim Garling as head of the WIRO in September 2012. Mr Garling has since come under fir...

Published on Aug 04, 2013

A public servant in Canberra has won a $390,000 compensation payout after being involved in a low speed crash, despite allegations she was "'jumping on the Comcare gravy train," Canberra Times reports. The woman was the passenger in a car that was rear-ended, an...