Browsing: WHS decisions (SA) | Page 3

Two PCBUs have been convicted and fined a total of nearly half a million dollars after a labour-hire worker died of traumatic head injuries, with a court stressing that consultation failings represented a lost opportunity for identifying safety deficiencies.

A PCBU and its director were on notice from a 2014 regulatory visit and prohibition notice of their WHS duty to properly guard machinery, a tribunal has ruled in convicting and fining them over a worker's 2020 degloving injury.

Two PCBUs, including an upstream duty holder, have been convicted and fined a total of $950,000 over the crush death of a worker, with a tribunal noting neither duty holder implemented any practicable engineering controls to address the foreseeable risk of death.

A WHS prohibition notice issued to a ride operator, identifying similar safety concerns to those examined in an inquest into a child's death, has been stayed with conditions, with a tribunal noting efforts to completely eliminate risk would "shut down a large number of rides and experiences".

A manufacturing company that used its own personnel to perform a high-risk maintenance task, without obtaining appropriate safety equipment or expert help, has been convicted and fined $100,000 over the death of a worker in a 6.5-metre fall.

A PCBU has been convicted of WHS contraventions resulting in an employee's arm becoming entrapped in an unguarded conveyer belt roller, with a tribunal rejecting its claim that no conviction should be recorded because of the remedial measures it implemented after the incident.

An inquest into the death of a girl on a high-energy amusement device, which led to two WHS reckless conduct charges and an anti-corruption probe, has found some of the ride's safety requirements were bypassed for financial reasons, and called for all jurisdictions to ensure the applicable Australian Standards have legal status.

A PCBU that declined to act on the safety advice of an electrician has been convicted and fined for three serious WHS offences, including failing to consult and coordinate activities with the company tasked with installing and commissioning its imported plant.

In a case where "parallel" duty holders were charged over a worker's death, a PCBU has been found guilty of breaching WHS laws in relying on training and signage rather than engineering measures to control risks arising from new equipment with an unusual design.

The WHS failings of an individual with the duties of a PCBU included failing to label hazardous chemicals, leading to a fire that severely injured both himself and a client, a tribunal has heard.