> Presumptive PTSD compensation introduced in second state; > National transport safety amendments made, and proposed; and > Four sets of electricity and rail safety regulations commence in Vic.
A second PCBU has been fined after roof infrastructure damaged by workers went unreported and pierced another worker's head, bringing the total penalty imposed on two related entities over the incident to $316,000.
A PCBU that made a half-hearted attempt to comply with three improvement notices has been prosecuted and fined $24,000. Meanwhile, workplace safety regulations for using equipment in non-explosive atmospheres have been simplified in Queensland.
A government employee who drove a heavy vehicle into a remand prisoner - a fatality that led to two workplace health and safety prosecutions - was directed to drive the vehicle despite raising concerns about his lack of experience or familiarity with the truck, an inquest has found.
A superior court has ruled out a worker's difficult and demanding role and ongoing issues with a supervisor's management style as causes of her debilitating psychological injury, but upheld her appeal against an assault finding.
The director of a company with a long history of safety and entry contraventions had a "deliberate policy" to breach entry laws because he believed he was being targeted by a union, the Federal Circuit Court has found in fining the director, the company and a supervisor.
A worker's failure to adhere to an employer's tiered system of risk assessments after a rare and non-routine incident was a valid reason for his dismissal, a commission has found.
Workers' comp claims agents have taken steps to conceal rather than eliminate unethical practices identified in a damning 2016 report, the Victorian Ombudsman has found. The five agents cherry-pick evidence to reject complex claims and intrusively surveil injured workers "without a shred of evidence to justify it", she found.
Reforming one of Australia's major workers' comp schemes has had significant unintended consequences on injured workers' health, providing caution for future changes, researchers have found in an analysis of four years of claims data.
