Hills has announced it will partner with UTC Fire & Security (UTC) to introduce a range of fire detection products into the Australian and New Zealand markets. [ + ]

Last week, the Fair Work Commission handed down its findings from negotiations between publicly owned Essential Energy and the unions representing the majority of workers employed by the company. The negotiations aimed to settle on a revised enterprise agreement and have been in play since June 2015, when the previous agreement expired. Among the points of contention in discussion were provisions for redundancy and outsourcing. [ + ]

Toyota Motor Corporation has issued a safety recall for certain vehicles in its Hiace range. The affected models include: KDH201, KDH221, KDH223, TRH201, TRH221 and TRH223. [ + ]

The National Transport Commission (NTC) has released the discussion paper 'National guidelines for automated vehicle trials', calling for input into the key elements needed to support the endeavour. [ + ]

Australia's solar heliostat technology will be used for concentrating solar thermal (CST) electricity generation in China. CSIRO has partnered with Chinese company Thermal Focus, following China's announcement to produce 1.4 GW of CST by 2018 and 5 GW by 2020. This would double the world's installed CST plants. [ + ]

As part of National Asbestos Awareness month (which ends today) tradies are invited to remain vigilant when working on projects which may contain asbestos materials. To help identify potential hazards, you can download the 'Residential checklist for tradies — a tradesperson's guide to asbestos-containing materials in domestic properties' PDF file from the Asbestos Awareness website. [ + ]

After more than two years of development, the international standard for Automated Infrastructure Management (ISO/IEC 18598 Information technology — Automated infrastructure management (AIM) systems — Requirements, data exchange and applications) has been officially published. [ + ]

CSIRO has been beavering away on new wearable technology that it hopes will improve the delivery of expert services to remote field workers, particularly in the mining industry. [ + ]

Hamish McGovern, managing director of Wattyl, has been nominated for the role of president of the Energy Efficiency Certificate Creators Association (EECCA) at the AGM held in Sydney. [ + ]

Automated vehicles (AVs) have the potential to change the landscape across a number of industry sectors. [ + ]

The Clean Energy Council (CEC) is pushing for battery storage installation standards in the wake of increasing adoption. The CEC says that setting the appropriate standards for safe installation is now vital and that it is leading the charge and working on behalf of the entire industry. [ + ]

The Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA) is the latest industry group to weigh in on the ongoing Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) situation. [ + ]

The CEO of energy storage company Redflow, Simon Hackett, says that the launch of Telsa's Powerwall 2 is welcome but runs the risk of polarising the market. [ + ]

Electricity consumers in Victoria will now be able to trade solar power with their neighbours in a first for the Australian renewables market, according to Powershop Australia. [ + ]

Information from the office of the Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, the Hon Greg Hunt MP, says Australia will lead the world in printed solar panel technology development, courtesy of a newly committed investment to the tune of $1.6 million. [ + ]