An organisation that failed to act on a serious risk identified in an audit has been fined $160,000 over a death, while two related businesses have been fined a total of $250,000 for unsafely failing to comply with engineering drawings for a major project, and disregarding a regulator's request for information.
Two PCBUs that drafted and approved the design of a structure, which subsequently collapsed, have been convicted and fined for WHS contraventions, with a magistrate highlighting the safety value of the "humble check list".
Three companies and an individual face maximum fines totalling more than $10.5 million, in what could be the first finalised prosecutions under Western Australia's version of the national model WHS laws.
An appeals court has rejected a PCBU's claim that its fine over a fatality involving a ladder was manifestly excessive. The PCBU contended the evidence did not prove beyond reasonable doubt that the death was a manifestation of its WHS breach.
A PCBU has been convicted and fined $180,000 after a visiting contractor leant on an unsecured fence in a restricted area and fell into a pit. A judge found the PCBU failed to comply with a Code of Practice requirement to ensure the fence could withstand the force of a person falling or leaning against it.
A worker who was charged with the manslaughter of another worker, in a runaway-forklift incident, has been convicted and fined for a section-28 contravention of WHS laws, in a first-of-its-kind case highlighting the potential multifaceted consequences of safety failings.
A PCBU that was charged with fatality-related WHS breaches, before the case was dropped, appears remarkably lucky to have escaped prosecution, with a coroner identifying numerous safety problems with the machine that caused the death, and finding the killed worker was never provided with proper safety instructions.
An appeals court has quashed a ruling that the WHS prosecution of a major company was invalid because of the process used to delegate the applicable regulatory powers. Meanwhile, a play centre has been charged with multiple safety breaches after a child fell seven metres.
A major work health and safety Bill has passed in Queensland, with amendments aimed at facilitating a plan that could extend industrial manslaughter provisions to bystander deaths, and ensure multiple duty holders can be charged with manslaughter after a fatality.
A PCBU has successfully paused the operation of a WHS notice by arguing such a step will not affect the safety of workers or others, and that in the absence of a stay, it could be forced to overhaul its safety management system unnecessarily.