A PCBU has lost its last-resort bid to block its WHS prosecution over the drowning deaths of a father and son, with a superior court describing its latest jurisdictional challenge as an "unacceptable fragmentation of the criminal proceeding".
An employer has pleaded guilty to 16 safety breaches and been hit with $545,000 in fines, including over fire safety failures that led to staff using a flammable liquid and cardboard instead of a fire extinguisher to put out a fire on a machine and on two workers.
A beleaguered aerospace giant's safety reporting system discourages staff reports through fear of retaliation, while many workers are unaware of the operation of, or their place in, the company's safety management system, a major review has found.
An appeals court has upheld the acquittals of two PCBUs charged over the hypothermia death of a helicopter pilot, confirming that the "cascading" series of WHS measures they allegedly failed to adopt were not reasonably practicable.
A recent workers' comp dispute has illustrated the "tricky climate" new legislation on workplace s-xual harassment has created for employers, and the need to adapt processes to specific complaints, a senior safety and employment lawyer says.
A judge has highlighted the critical roles elected health and safety representatives play in achieving the objectives of WHS laws, and making it feasible for PCBUs to comply with their consultation duties, in fining a Qantas subsidiary for "shameful" WHS discrimination.
Determining and comparing how "work is really done" with how it is "imagined" in safety documents is key to designing work with minimal psychosocial risks of burnout and stress, according to new regulatory guidance.
A company director who bullied a subcontractor for four years, and abused him for raising safety concerns to do with the COVID-19 pandemic, has been convicted of workplace health and safety contraventions.
A worker who claimed he suffered a back injury from two companies negligently requiring him to carry boxes up stairs has lost his bid for damages in an appeals court.