Australian Institute of Health & Safety

05/03/2026

This month, we reached out to the Australian Institute of Health & Safety to explore why global collaboration is essential for advancing health and safety.

05/03/2026

To recognise International Women’s Day this Sunday, 8 March, the Australian Institute of Health & Safety has released a new position on managing work-related sexual harassment risk.

Workplace sexual harassment remains prevalent in Australian workplaces, and women are disproportionately affected. It is also preventable. Our position calls on organisations to recognise sexual harassment as a workplace health and safety risk and embed prevention into everyday WHS systems, leadership and work design.

03/03/2026

Join us in welcoming our INSHPO Board of Directors Executive Council for 2026. Paul Belair from BCRSP (Board of Canadian Registered Safety Professionals) will lead the board as president, with Cameron Montgomery from AIHS (Australian Institute of Health & Safety) joining as Vice President, and Ashok Garlapati from BCSP (Board of Certified Safety Professionals), also new to the Executive Council, taking on the role of Treasurer.

03/03/2026

Thirteen years after Glenn Newport died while working in temperatures exceeding 40 degrees, Australia still does not have a nationally consistent, enforceable heat standard for worksites, despite conditions becoming more frequent and more severe.

The AIHS has identified climate change as an intensifying workplace health and safety risk. Our Position on Climate Change and Work Health and Safety calls for hazards such as heat stress to be systematically embedded into WHS frameworks and guidance, not treated as seasonal or ad hoc issues.

Professionals across exposed sectors are already seeing the impacts. Climate change is a workplace health and safety issue. Our systems and policy settings need to reflect that reality.

It has been 13 years since Jenny Newport's son died from extreme heat while on a worksite in Queensland. She believes not much has changed.

19/02/2026

18/02/2026

We are delighted to welcome our NSW community to the 2026 AIHS NSW Safety Symposium, officially underway this morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground. With the event now sold out, it is fantastic to see such strong engagement from across the profession.

The day has commenced with opening remarks from Aaron Boyes and Ben Kirkbride, followed by a keynote address from SafeWork NSW Commissioner Janet Schorer.

18/02/2026

Apprentices are the future of Australia’s workforce. They deserve safe, respectful workplaces from day one.

In Victoria alone, employers have been fined $7.38 million over the past five years for failing to protect apprentices. Sixty-six prosecutions. More than 3,000 accepted injury claims. Tragically, five young lives were lost. One death is one too many.

Young workers are most at risk in their first six months on the job. They often lack experience, confidence and the power to speak up, especially when unsafe behaviour comes from those in leadership positions.

No job is worth a life. No training pathway should come with fear, injury, bullying or abuse.

WorkSafe Victoria has prosecuted 66 employers over apprentice safety breaches in five years, issuing $7.38 million in penalties and warning of severe consequences for failures involving young workers.

13/02/2026

More than 70 per cent of the global workforce is exposed to excessive heat each year. In Australia, heat is a leading cause of work-related hospitalisations.

With extreme temperatures affecting workers across construction, logistics, events, agriculture and more, the AIHS is calling for stronger prevention measures to reduce fatigue, heat stress and injury.

Our latest media release outlines what workplaces can do now:

11/02/2026

Another great start to the year at our Herbert Smith Freehills Annual OHS Breakfast this morning. Thank you to everyone who joined us.

Thank you to Steve Bell, Aaron Neilson, Nicola Davies and Peter Clements for sharing valuable insights into legal and regulatory developments, emerging trends, and practical challenges facing the profession.

We are grateful to our speakers for their generous contribution, and to Herbert Smith Freehills for their continued partnership in delivering another sold-out highlight of the AIHS calendar.

10/02/2026

The AIHS is calling on the NSW Government to rethink proposed digital work systems legislation and extend consultation with WHS experts. Protecting workers requires a focus on good work design and risk, not treating technology as a standalone hazard.

28/01/2026

New national data show workplace fatalities have declined, but this is no time for complacency. In 2025, 167 Australians lost their lives at work. While this represents a reduction from the previous year, even one death is one too many.

Read our full media release below.

18/12/2025

Australia’s leading workplace health and safety event is back in 2026.

The AIHS National Health and Safety Conference will be held from 15–17 June 2026 at the Adelaide Convention Centre. With the theme Accelerating Safety, the conference will bring together the WHS profession to explore how innovation, technology and new thinking can advance health and safety.

Following a sold-out, award-winning conference in 2025, the 2026 program will be bigger, bolder and future-focused, with expanded content, new formats and national and international thought leaders.

The conference website is now live and will continue to be updated as program elements, speakers and experiences are added.

Save the date. This is one event you will not want to miss.

https://aihsnationalconference.com.au/