Work Health and Safety

Ensuring safe and healthy workplaces for all

Union members are driving the fight for stronger workplace safety laws, ensuring every worker has access to safe working conditions and fair health and safety protections. This section highlights how collective action is pushing for better work health and safety (WHS) standards, stronger workers’ rights, and employer accountability in creating safer workplaces.

Protecting workers from unsafe conditions

Every worker deserves to feel safe on the job. Unions are leading efforts to prevent workplace injuries, enforce occupational health and safety (OHS) regulations, and eliminate risks such as exposure to hazardous materials and unsafe work environments. Campaigns focus on improving mental health support at work, strengthening safety training, and ensuring that workers are not put at unnecessary risk.

Join the movement for workplace safety

By becoming a union member, you gain the power to demand better workplace protections, fight for fair compensation for workplace injuries, and hold employers accountable for maintaining safe working environments. Together, union members are making real progress in creating workplaces where safety is a right, not a privilege.

Read our articles for more information about Health and Safety at Work!

How to protect your mental health at work

October 10, 2022

If your mental health is under strain at work, you’re not alone. 21 per cent of workers surveyed said they experienced mental health issues related to work in the last 12 months.

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How unions make workplace mental health more than an annual check-in

September 8, 2022

If your employer is relying on days like R U OK to check in on your mental health – or worse, requesting workmates check in on each other one day a year without support from management – then that’s a huge red flag.

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Four tips for taking a mental health day

August 16, 2022

Really, we shouldn’t have to think twice about taking a sick day when we want to look after our mental health. But if you have any doubts or simply just want to make the most of your day off, here are four tips that will come in handy. 

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Employers need to step up and support workers through COVID peak

July 21, 2022

In alarming news for all workers, Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly warned yesterday that COVID case numbers will soon surpass all previous peaks.  

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The deadly dust behind your kitchen bench

July 19, 2022

A new study from Curtin University predicts as many as 10,000 Australians will develop lung cancer in their lifetime due to exposure to silica dust. 

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Workers supported to isolate with COVID sick leave restored

July 18, 2022

Good news for workers without paid sick leave: the Albanese Government has restored the $750 Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment. 

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How to prepare for the third wave of COVID-19

July 14, 2022

COVID hospitalisations in Australia have soared to more than 4,000 people. The last time we saw a figure this high was in February this year during the summer Omicron outbreak.  

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A discount on yoga classes doesn’t cut it: Three common signs of a mentally unhealthy workplace and how to fix it

June 13, 2022

Things don’t have to break before they can be fixed The world is waking up…

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What Injured Workers Day means for Australians

June 1, 2022

Injured Workers Day is about fighting for concrete changes to workplace legislation and make sure every worker can go to work and get home safely. 

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What International Workers Memorial Day means for Australians

April 28, 2022

“We are here today to remember the dead and fight like hell for the living.” 

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