NSW set for model safety laws with likely election landslide; WorkCover SA maintains levy rate despite falling unfunded liability; SISA Awards open; and Queensland Return to Work Awards open Monday.
Comcare reintroduces recess compensation; Petroleum employers to pay three new safety levies; and Tasmania calls for comments on no-fault asbestos compensation Bill.
The absence of risk management provisions and the hierarchy of controls in the model Regulations and Codes of Practice will result in a "clear and unambiguous diminution" of workplace health and safety standards, two prominent OHS experts say.
Injuries caused by biomechanical demands, such as repetitive hand movements or heavy lifting, cost Australian business $361 million a year in compensation payments - and 99 per cent of employees are at risk, according to new Safe Work Australia research.
Notices issued to workers disputing their workers' comp entitlements must be written in "clear and unambiguous language", the NSW WCC has stressed in awarding ongoing compensation to an injured worker who was dismissed for stealing.
Western Australia to abolish discriminatory workers' comp rules; Second Western Australian employer fined for safety training failure; ACT and South Australia offer health and safety funding; and Commonwealth safety Regulations amended.
A Queensland worker whose office chair rolled backwards when she stood up, causing her to land of the floor when she sat down, was entitled to $420,000 in damages, the Supreme Court has confirmed in dismissing her employer's appeal.
The draft model Work Health and Safety Regulations and Codes of Practice contain a "retrograde" definition of "manual task", an ambiguous rule for emergency plans and inadequate provisions for urinals, according to submissions made to Safe Work Australia.
