The 2012 SPE/APPEA International Conference on Health, Safety and Environment in Oil & Gas Exploration and Production will be held from 11-13 September at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. The theme of the conference is ‘Protecting People and the Environment - Evolving Challenges’. This is the first time the event will be held in Australia. [ + ]

Applicants from Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia have been awarded grants under the Comcare Asbestos Innovation Fund. The fund, launched by the federal government in December 2010, is designed to encourage the development of practical programs and research which raise awareness of asbestos, improve its management and removal, and provide better treatment and support for sufferers and their families. [ + ]

Gas detection and monitoring equipment company Industrial Scientific Corporation has promoted Kevin Miller to the position of Chief Operating Officer and Vice President. In his new role, Miller will be responsible for sales, services, marketing, product development and manufacturing for Industrial Scientific’s portable gas detection business. [ + ]

A free workshop aimed at providing employers with the tools and tips they need to help keep injured workers motivated during the return to work process will be held at WorkSafe Victoria’s head office - 222 Exhibition Street, Melbourne on 15 March from 2 to 4 pm. [ + ]

Research from the University of Otago suggests that a stronger focus is needed on preventing accidental nerve injury during medical treatments in New Zealand. [ + ]

Victorian workers’ safety and entitlements are being threatened in an unprecedented move to save a quick buck, at the expense of those who most need the help: the injured. [ + ]

A roof tiling company's failure to install fall protection on a Rowville house resulted in an apprentice falling 2.4 metres to the ground and a fine representing one third of the company's annual profit. [ + ]

Police and NSW road safety authorities have launched an unprecedented operation on a trucking company following investigations into a fatal crash which claimed three lives in on the Hume Highway at Menangle last month. [ + ]

In its submission to the review of the Fair Work Act, the ACTU proposes reforms, within the framework of the existing legislation, to improve the rights to collective bargaining and the safety net for insecure workers. Any further changes to workplace laws should improve job security, rights and protections for the millions of people in insecure work, not hand more power to employers. [ + ]

George Weston Foods - one of Australia’s largest food processors - was convicted and fined $50,000 at the Castlemaine Magistrates’ Court on 17 February after pleading guilty to one count of failing to provide a safe plant, after a worker’s hand was crushed after being caught in a machine. [ + ]

After being identified as one of the state’s highest risk industries, WorkCover NSW has commenced a project to reduce workplace injuries and illnesses and improve injury management in the road freight transport industry. The project is part of WorkCover’s new flagship work health and safety program, 10/5/5, which involves working with the NSW community to improve safety in the state’s 10 highest risk industries. [ + ]

Restoring the ability for employers to engage and negotiate directly with their workforce has underpinned the key recommendations from national resource industry employer group AMMA, in its submission to the Australian Government’s Fair Work Act Review Panel. Representing all areas of the resource and related construction industry, AMMA’s submission examines how the Fair Work Act has failed on its key objectives and puts forth specific reforms that would see a return to mutually rewarding employment relationships in Australian workplaces. [ + ]

The NSW Mine Safety Advisory Council (MSAC) has appointed John Hannaford as its Chairman. MSAC provides advice to the Minister for Resources and Energy on work health and safety in the NSW mining industry. Hannaford’s appointment as Chair of the Council follows the death of Norman Jennings late last year. Jennings had held the role since 2006. [ + ]

Despite a fall in the national unemployment rate, efforts must be made to minimise job losses and big corporations should not sacrifice workers in their hunger for profits, according to the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). [ + ]

On Monday morning in Brisbane, workers engaged in insecure jobs had the chance to tell the Howe Inquiry how the issue impacts on their lives, their families and their budgets. The hearing was the first of two dozen to be held across Australia. [ + ]