Browsing: WHS decisions (VIC) | Page 1

• Safety reforms flagged after 58 COVID charges withdrawn; and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

• Workplace safety prosecution follows Gumtree death;
  
• Major workers' comp report examines evolving schemes; and
  
• Quarterly report released.

A court has convicted and fined an employer $450,000 for failing to provide a safe workplace, resulting in an "entirely foreseeable" death, and reminded companies that safety laws require them to proactively prevent and address safety risks, rather than waiting for near misses to alert them to dangers.

A company that failed to ensure a workplace gate was inspected by a qualified engineer, after it was modified, has been fined for exposing other businesses' workers to health and safety risks.

• Double-fatality fines too low to deter safety breaches, says union; and
  
• Department of Defence charged over psychosocial risks.

Two organisations have been charged with exposing non-workers to health and safety risks, after an inquest found their "failures and shortcomings" contributed to a boy's death, and slammed one of them for attempting to deflect blame by claiming others led it "into a state of ignorance" on the relevant safety risks.

• COVID odd jobs end in health and safety conviction;
  
• Alarming glut of falls reported by regulator; and
  
• Carbon monoxide warning triggered by forklift death.

An upstream duty holder has been prosecuted and fined for providing plant with a manual that was missing safety instructions for inspection and cleaning tasks. Another duty holder has been fined for failing to provide a demarcated safety zone for delivery drivers, which led to a double amputation.

The High Court has agreed to consider quashing the application of allegedly outdated judgments that bar damages for psychiatric injuries caused by dismissal processes, in the case of a worker who was subjected to a sham dismissal after an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.

Another employer has been fined for workplace health and safety breaches affecting children, with its failures including not maintaining a safe supervision ratio of employees to customers.