Browsing: Equipment and plant | Page 6

A company that was prosecuted, over a high-profile fatality, for breaching its safety duties as a supplier of plant, has unsuccessfully argued that its $400,000 penalty was excessive because it had no control over the location of workers when the incident occurred.

A major energy company that failed to implement an adequate visual inspection regime for power poles, and a business that failed to manage asphyxia risks, have been fined a total of nearly $500,000 over fatalities. Meanwhile, duty holders have been urged to assess the risk of heat-related illnesses, after an outdoor worker died in hot weather.

• Weak exclusion-zone controls increased fumes risk; and
  
• WHS exemption applied and Code remade in WA.

A PCBU has successfully challenged the size of its penalties for failing to comply with WHS notices, with a court finding the fines were too severe given the company "took significant steps" and spent a lot of money attempting to achieve compliance.

A PCBU has been fined $540,000 over a worker's death, after unsuccessfully seeking to reduce its penalty by arguing its electrical safety breaches did not cause the electrocution.

With National Safe Work Month starting this week, employers are being urged to host SafeTea chats, focus on issues like mental health and workloads, and provide safer workplaces for women. Employers have also been warned to properly maintain their defibrillators.

• One regulator charges another with recklessness after suicide;
  
• Host fined $350k over fatal impalement of labour-hire worker; and
  
• New national dangerous goods Code taking effect in Vic.

• Counterfeit components endanger workers;
  
• Ignored SDSs revealed risks that caused injury; and
  
• Organisation charged over vulnerable client's death.

Assigning "human supervisors" for drones will mitigate some of the emerging safety risks associated with the increasing use of the aerial vehicles in workplace settings, according to Europe's peak safety agency.

The authors of an Australian study say they have added to "reassuring" findings around the possible cancer links to highly prevalent occupational exposures to electrical fields and the use of electrical appliances.