Browsing: Dangerous substances | Page 3

The rate of work-related dermatitis has nearly doubled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but a major review has identified two effective methods to prevent the "ubiquitous" skin condition.

The final PCBU to be sentenced in relation to the December 2019 Whakaari volcanic eruption, which killed 22 tourists and workers, failed to relay critical risk information, which only it possessed, to its contractors, a court has found.

Five of the 13 entities charged over the New Zealand volcanic eruption that killed 22 tourists and workers in 2019 have been ordered to pay a total of $13 million in workplace safety fines and reparations, in a case providing a "catastrophic example" of what can happen when safety duties are ignored.

• Employers warned against unsafe rushing ahead of stone ban;
  
• Employer that boosted HSR numbers among Vic safety winners; and
  
• Safety awards open in WA.

A major review of a WHS regulator has been quickly followed by a highly critical audit, which found the regulator lacks effective strategies for dealing with emerging WHS threats, and took about eight years to "actively and sufficiently respond" to the dangers of engineered stone.

A WHS regulator has been allowed to continue prosecuting an employer over two silicosis cases, including one causing a worker's death, after defeating claims it had been aware of the alleged offences for many years and laid the charges too late.

A man has been ordered to stand trial for the industrial manslaughter of a worker who fell through an unguarded penetration, while employers have been urged to assess and control the risks associated with the potentially deadly disease melioidosis, after a work-related case was recorded.

• Missing signage and access issues among multiple chemical breaches; and
  
• Draft safety laws include mandatory jail for most offenders.

Provisions enabling the "aggregation of conduct" are being added to the ACT's WHS laws to deal with offences like reckless conduct, hindering inspectors and supplying incorrectly labelled chemicals, under a Bill that also significantly increases WHS penalties.

• Five deaths in four days trigger WHS compliance warning;
  
• SWA issues update on WHS changes for stone ban; and
  
• New WHS Code commences, fulfils Dreamworld recommendation.