The Australian population is among the most overweight and obese of the developed nations. Whilst you may think this is a personal issue for your workforce, you couldn't be further from the truth. Overweight employees can have a significant impact on workplace health and safety and be a drain on the workers’ compensation system.

Influenza spreads much faster than you might think. Contamination of a single doorknob can lead to the spread of virus throughout an entire office building or hotel in as little as two hours, according to a new study from the University of Arizona.

Think about how many days of work your employees missed last year as a result of the flu. Then consider how many more they cost you when they came to work sick and infected other employees. Unfortunately, people are going to get sick and it’s going to impact your business.

A recent internet discussion on the recommendation in the British HSE document ‘HSG 53 'Respiratory Protective Equipment at Work - a practical guide’ for a maximum of 1 hour continuous wear time for any un-powered RPE raised some interesting points. Several people in the occupational hygiene or allied fields commented to the effect that no-one should offer an opinion unless they had “walked a mile in the shoes” of workers required to do this.

It’s not long until November which means Movember is about to kick off. Movember is more than just about men growing moustaches. It’s about raising the awareness of men’s health issues and giving men the opportunities and confidence to learn about taking action to improve their health. So, why the fuss about men’s health?

This may seem like a strange statement but the reality is that obesity can result in hearing loss. Being overweight is unhealthy from many points of view but recent studies show that there is also a link between obesity and hearing loss.

I can hear you thinking to yourself ‘How on earth can obesity cause hearing loss?” There are actually 2 ways that obesity can affect your hearing:

We all know the common flu symptoms – fever, headaches, sore muscle, sore throat, runny nose, sneezing, dry cough, tiredness – but did you know that the flu can also cause temporary and potentially permanent hearing loss?

How temporary hearing loss is caused

At our breakfast on Oct 17th Tammy Van Wisse had people laughing, crying and shaking their heads in amazement. Her anecdotes about her incredible achievements and how they relate to goal setting in business gave us all lots to think about.

Down to earth, warm and engaging, Tammy had us all enthralled as she related her many achievements including crossing Bass Strait and swimming the entire length of the Murray River – which took 105 days!

OHS equipment suppliers indicate that hearing protection remains an important control measure in the fight against noise induced hearing loss. The increase in availability and affordability of equipment like powered hand tools with very noisy two stroke petrol powered engines to replace almost every physical activity has increased the need for effective hearing protection for traditionally quiet work such as sweeping and plant trimming.

While we may be ready to let go of the colder months, the flu season is still very much here and it usually continues through to October, continuing to affect tens of thousands of Australians.

We've had an early start to the flu season this year with higher case numbers compared to the same time in previous years. According to the Department of Health’s Surveillance Report from August, there are still rapidly increasing numbers particularly in NSW, SA and Tasmania.