Browsing: Issue/challenge/risk (all) | Page 1

Unions have stressed that reproductive health conditions like endometriosis are WHS matters, in applauding new reproductive health leave entitlements announced yesterday.

• PCBU accused of breaching duties to killed student and others; and
  
• WHS stone ban clarified in Qld.

A recent ruling upholding the sacking of a worker, who failed to disclose a longstanding health issue, shows that holding employees to account for complying with their own health and safety duties forms part of an employer's obligations, a senior safety and employment lawyer says.

A small business and a government department have entered into WHS undertakings after a "volunteer" was seriously injured in a fall. The department has also committed to spending millions on a new WHS reporting system for its 31,000 employees.

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.

• Worker fined $55k for WHS omissions;
  
• Regulator targets psychosocial risks with videos for toolbox talks; and
  
• Burgeoning industry gets first WHS audit.

• Director breached due diligence duties for 18 months;
  
• Decriminalisation Bill improves WHS standards in Qld; and
  
• Social media post exposes workers' comp fraud.

Employers have been urged to create proper onboarding programs for new managers, and give them the skills to manage up, with a large proportion of new middle managers being unprepared for their responsibilities and experiencing burnout.

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.

• Safety reforms flagged after 58 COVID charges withdrawn; and
  
• Changes to workplace exposure standards applied in ACT.