Browsing: Fatalities | Page 145

The Australian Government has called for workplaces to be more vocal on safety, after three new Safe Work Australia reports found work-related injury, illness and disease cost the country about $60 billion a year - despite a falling fatality rate.

In a decision that examines the definition of a "self-employed person" under workplace safety laws, the skipper of a South Australian fishing vessel found guilty over the death of a deckhand has had charges against him dismissed on appeal.

Induction flaw ends in death plunge and $250k fine; Employer placed on bond after worker killed by unguarded machine; and Harmonisation guides for major hazard facilities and Queensland rural sector released.

In a report on the death of a worker who fell from a ladder, the Victorian Coroner has criticised an employer for its "superficial" safety documents, and called for WorkSafe to "abolish the distinction between working at height above or below two metres".

South Australian on-hire agencies to pay lower workers' comp levies; Workplace fatality reports reveal high pedestrian and rural death rates; Rollover-protection opponents relying on flawed simulation tests; Comcare's inaugural health and safety awards open; and WorkCover NSW hosting free harmonisation webinars.

An employer that failed to prevent employees from "deliberately" exposing themselves to a serious risk has been fined $170,500, after a Western Australian worker ignored previous warnings and fell to his death.

Two NSW company directors charged over a workplace death have failed in their High Court bid to have the case against them dismissed based on the landmark Kirk case.

In a long-running dispute involving a Victorian employer, which was fined $100,000 after an offsite subcontractor was killed by a falling crate, the High Court has heard it was widely known that such crates had been "jumping off trucks like lemmings over a cliff".

A health and safety fine imposed on a Tasmanian employer following an elevated-working-platform (EWP) fatality has been reduced, after the Supreme Court confirmed there was no evidence linking the company's deficiencies to the death.

The High Court will next week consider two special-leave-to-appeal applications that could affect the application of the landmark Kirk case in OHS prosecutions and the entitlements of injured former employees.