Contemporary issues and changes in occupational health are reviewed in this article, with particular reference to salient historical and ideological influences on industrial relations in Australia. Comprehensive occupational health and safety legislation has been introduced recently, and the views of employers and unions are analyzed. Research into occupational stress has continued to provide guidelines for work reform, but the controversy generated by the Australian phenomenon known as Repetition Strain Injury (RSI) has raised important issues for the work reform movement.
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