Labour providers cannot rely on other companies to ensure the health and safety of their workers, a judge has stressed in fining a PCBU over two incidents (including a fatality) that occurred just weeks apart.
Employers could face increasing regulatory scrutiny where workplace fatalities or serious injuries occur, with a union pressuring government ministers to "get serious" about safety prosecutions. Meanwhile, a workplace supervisor has been fined over an induction incident.
The prosecutions of a PCBU and an officer have sent a reminder to other duty holders that they must proactively guard against acts of carelessness or inattentiveness, including by specialist contractors.
A PCBU has been handed a pre-discount WHS fine of $500,000, after a worker was "condemned to life as a quadriplegic" by its failure to ensure deliveries to its premises could be unpacked safely.
An employer might have provided workers with safety stools to help them reach high objects, but the pace of the work and the scarceness of the stools meant they couldn't be used practically, a court has found in awarding a worker more than $800,000 in damages for a manual handling injury.
In a case providing an important reminder of the extra risks faced by vulnerable workers, like those from overseas, a PCBU has been convicted and fined over the significant fall injuries sustained by the holder of a working holiday visa.
A PCBU has been fined $400,000 after a worker sustained fatal injuries falling from an unsuitable ladder, with a court slamming its site induction for being "so inadequate" that it failed to detect that the worker did not have a "white card".
The High Court has rejected an employer's bid for special leave to challenge a ruling that it is not entitled to recover, from its insurer, any damages and compensation paid to an injured worker because of its safety record.
