Browsing: Jurisdiction (VIC) | Page 1

The jailing of an operations manager, the passage of right-to-disconnect laws and significant WHS and workers' compensation amendments were among the highlights of the first quarter of 2024. This major report covers all jurisdictions and looks at everything you need to know from the start of the year.

• Workplace disasters often linked to ignored concerns: lawyer; and
  
• Incident notification requirements amended in Vic.

• Inquiry examining impact of AI on work intensity and rights;
  
• Workplace security measures targeted by WHS regulator;
  
• Haul trucks have the energy of 948km/h cars, employers warned;
  
• Safety Code remade for solar sector in Qld; and
  
• New Vic safety chief to oversee stone ban and scheme changes.

A company that failed to ensure a workplace gate was inspected by a qualified engineer, after it was modified, has been fined for exposing other businesses' workers to health and safety risks.

An employer that allegedly breached safety laws and regulations by failing to erect speed limit signs for forklifts, or ensure employed spotters were actually used, has committed nearly $500,000 to safety undertakings to avoid prosecution, with its enforceable initiatives including hiring a workplace health and safety manager.

• Double-fatality fines too low to deter safety breaches, says union; and
  
• Department of Defence charged over psychosocial risks.

Two organisations have been charged with exposing non-workers to health and safety risks, after an inquest found their "failures and shortcomings" contributed to a boy's death, and slammed one of them for attempting to deflect blame by claiming others led it "into a state of ignorance" on the relevant safety risks.

• COVID odd jobs end in health and safety conviction;
  
• Alarming glut of falls reported by regulator; and
  
• Carbon monoxide warning triggered by forklift death.

A court has granted a worker leave to pursue damages for long COVID resulting from a work-related infection, rejecting submissions that her various symptoms needed to be assessed separately and none of them were serious.

A commission has rejected a worker's allegations that she was forced to resign because her employer failed to shield her from vicarious trauma and its approach to psychological safety was "stuck in the 1990s".