An appeals court has upheld a multimillion-dollar damages ruling (with minor variations), confirming a contractor was vicariously liable for a technician's negligent act that caused four workers to sustain injuries in a jolting lift.
WHS professionals and other stakeholders from around the country have been invited to attend a major virtual forum on preventing workplace sexual harassment, while Canberra employers could be forced to proactively eliminate discrimination, under proposed reforms to ACT laws.
In this quarterly report, OHS Alert examines all the need-to-know safety and compensation developments from the three months to 30 September 2021, including changes around workplace COVID jabs, the prosecution of a government department, legislative amendments, and a record WHS fine.
A WHS regulator has committed to utilising all its compliance tools, including statutory notices and prosecutions, under a new three-year plan to tackle psychological risks and hazards.
Australia's WHS regulators are likely to amend their statements of regulatory intent to protect employers that don't mandate COVID-19 vaccinations, and are cracking down on the unlawful performance of non-essential work, with closure orders and high fines.