Adhering to readily available Safe Work Australia guidance would have helped a PCBU prevent an incident where a worker fell through a penetration after mistaking its cover for spare plywood, a court has found in convicting and fining the business $450,000.
An employer has been fined $800,000 for WHS breaches, after a designated work site migrated onto a dangerous stretch of road and a worker was killed by a vehicle driven by a colleague.
All work processes where workers might be exposed to respirable silica will be considered high risk and subjected to tougher WHS regulations unless risk assessments prove otherwise, under one of a string of changes agreed by Australia's WHS ministers.
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.
The commencement date for South Australia's new offence of industrial manslaughter has been confirmed, while a WHS regulator has announced a crackdown on poor housekeeping in an industry with a high rate of serious musculoskeletal disorders.
The High Court has agreed to consider quashing the application of allegedly outdated judgments that bar damages for psychiatric injuries caused by dismissal processes, in the case of a worker who was subjected to a sham dismissal after an incident on a work trip.
A PCBU exhibited "multiple failures at management levels" to respond to violent workplace incidents, which escalated after it accepted additional high-risk clients and led to workers being assaulted, a court has found.