Browsing: Right of entry | Page 6

A recidivist union official who entered a workplace to exercise WHS rights without an entry permit has been handed a $10,000 penalty and personal payment order.

A union and its OHS advisor, who abused a safety inspector attempting to discharge his duties at a worksite, engaged in conduct in the "worst category of cases" of hindering or obstructing a person, a court has found.

The director of a company with a long history of safety and entry contraventions had a "deliberate policy" to breach entry laws because he believed he was being targeted by a union, the Federal Circuit Court has found in fining the director, the company and a supervisor.

The Federal Court has rejected a claim that unions don't need entry permits to enter sites to attend "discussions" on safety issues under the dispute resolution provisions of WHS laws.

• Ensuring Integrity Bill will stymie safety, ACTU says; and
  
• Union targets safety manager in entry case countersuit.

Western Australia has announced a two-level industrial manslaughter offence, revealed plans to beef up its safety inspectorate and released a draft WHS framework. Meanwhile, Victoria has introduced a new reckless conduct offence with $6.4 million fines for employers.

• Another PCBU enters fatality-related WHS undertaking; and
  
• Employer and director's WHS-related entry fines redirected to union.

In a case involving a charity drive and entry breaches, the Federal Court has rejected a regulator's assertion that workers' subjective "feelings" about how safe their sites are can't justify a stoppage.

An employer and three of its managers have been fined for preventing union officials from investigating suspected safety breaches, while the Federal Court has dismissed claims that a union official "negated" a Western Australian employer's choice to operate after an ACT fatality, which led to multiple reckless conduct charges.

In a long-running case that clarified right-of-entry laws for assisting health and safety representatives, the Federal Court has found a union official's breaches only deserved a low-range fine, in part because they probably improved the safety and efficiency of the relevant site.