Employers fined for ignoring Codes of Practice; Safety reviews urged after three horror incidents in 24 hours; OHS prosecutions to be fast-tracked in Victorian blitz; and South Australia offers $412K in OHS research grants.
A NSW employer that failed to properly calibrate a safety device has been fined nearly $300,000, after a mobile crane fell onto live powerlines and crashed into a house, narrowly missing residents and nearly electrocuting a worker.
A crane driver left tetraplegic after falling 1.5 metres to the ground has failed to prove his accident, which he cannot remember and no one saw, was caused by the negligence of any of the four companies operating at a Western Australian Goldfields site.
Employers warned after five Victorian and Queensland work deaths; Western Australian employers fined after untrained holiday worker loses leg; Employer fined for lack of fencing at asbestos site; and Safety and legislation news from around Australia.
Workers' comp fraudster jailed for at least 12 months; Comcare prosecuting Defence Force, again; WorkSafe WA to target mobile plant and conduct safety forums; and Tasmanian mine safety Code revoked.
A NSW employer that failed to complete an OHS management plan - because its OHS and production managers were too busy - has been fined $160,000, after the OHS manager was killed in an incident involving an unsafe forklift.
In a horrific case that illustrates the "grave risk" of conducting hot work near a fuel source, a NSW employer has been fined $200,000 after a worker surrounded by flames jumped nine metres to his death.
In a case that highlights the risk of giving inappropriate instructions to subcontractors, a NSW employer that directed a non-employee to work in a "no go zone" has been fined $180,000, after he was killed by a moving vehicle.
The CFMEU has slammed the use of old tower cranes and other plant and is calling for Australia-wide safety inspections, following a "near disaster" at a Perth skyscraper yesterday.
