Browsing: Workers' compensation | Page 1

An injured worker has failed in his appeal for damages, unsuccessfully contending his employer had a duty to warn him to keep his hands free so he could use a handrail on a set of "inherently dangerous" steps.

Ahead of Workers' Memorial Day, and in light of the recent stabbing deaths at Westfield Bondi Junction, employers have been urged to ensure they always have clear emergency safety plans in place, and provide workers with access to psychological support services.

An appeals bench has upheld a finding that a worker's failure to obtain a COVID-19 vaccine while she was injured amounted to a breach of her return-to-work duties and warranted her benefits being cut.

• Major fire attracts Commonwealth WHS charges;
  
• Director charged over apprentice's 30km toolbox ride;
  
• Local council sentenced for failing to forward injury claim;
  
• Noise duties highlighted for WHS blitz in SA; and
  
• WHS Codes of Practice updated in ACT.

• WHS ministers agree to harmonised exposure limits;
  
• Access to dust damages improved in WA;
  
• RTW body officially established in Vic; and
  
• Workers to be protected by new slow-down rules in SA.

A worker who was bullied and called a "s-x offender" by colleagues, after being charged with historical abuse offences, has been awarded compensation for a psychological injury, with a commission hearing the bullying included being excluded from Christmas functions, and dismissing the employer's reasonable action defence.

• New injury definitions to trigger litigation in Vic; and
  
• WHS barrister announced as IRC President in restored NSW regime.

An appeals court has confirmed that a step's defective non-slip strip, which was missed by safety inspections, remained in place through the negligence of two companies and caused a worker to fall, entitling him to more than $1 million in damages.

Injured workers, and their employers, will be better protected from costly secondary psychological injuries by new provisions requiring insurers to actively provide early intervention services. The provisions are included in a Queensland Bill, which also creates Australia's longest list of cancers presumed, for workers' comp purposes, to be caused by firefighting duties.

The employer of a worker who suffered a "severe overload" injury has unsuccessfully attempted to block his entitlements by making the novel claim that its inability to provide enough staff constituted reasonable administrative action.