Browsing: Jurisdiction (WA) | Page 1

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 worker's failure to disclose to his employer that he had a longstanding physical limitation, and was suing the UK's National Health Service for causing the condition, constituted a breach of his duties under safety laws and provided a sound reason for his dismissal, a commission has found.

• 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 commission has cautioned that society's "significantly raised" bar for what constitutes consent for physical interactions is "even higher" in work-related environments, in upholding the summary dismissal of a worker for inappropriately touching a colleague.

The jailing of an operations manager, the passage of right-to-disconnect laws and significant WHS and workers' compensation amendments were among the highlights of the first quarter of 2024. This major report covers all jurisdictions and looks at everything you need to know from the start of the year.

• Inquiry examining impact of AI on work intensity and rights;
  
• Workplace security measures targeted by WHS regulator;
  
• Haul trucks have the energy of 948km/h cars, employers warned;
  
• Safety Code remade for solar sector in Qld; and
  
• New Vic safety chief to oversee stone ban and scheme changes.

• Electric-shock notification duties clarified; and
  
• New permanent impairment guidelines made for new WA Act.

• WHS consultation urged after $300k violence fine; and
  
• WHS reviews demanded after two deaths in two hours.

• Emerging WHS risks targeted for world safety day;
  
• WHS clauses for stone ban clarified; and
  
• Passage of WA safety Bill ensures national consistency.

A workplace manager did not bully a worker, but their employer dealt with the worker's grievances "clumsily", allowing misconstrued interactions to build up to a point where the mental health of both employees was affected, a commission has found.