A court has convicted and fined an employer $450,000 for failing to provide a safe workplace, resulting in an "entirely foreseeable" death, and reminded companies that safety laws require them to proactively prevent and address safety risks, rather than waiting for near misses to alert them to dangers.
Ahead of Workers' Memorial Day, and in light of the recent stabbing deaths at Westfield Bondi Junction, employers have been urged to ensure they always have clear emergency safety plans in place, and provide workers with access to psychological support services.
More than 70 per cent of the world's workers are exposed to health, safety and mental health risks created by climate change, which extend way beyond excessive heat, the International Labour Organisation has warned.
Suspended Sydney Flames basketball coach Shane Heal's failed claim that he was targeted for exercising workplace rights has highlighted the factors that constitute a safety complaint under employment law.
Reporting a safety incident is as important as the incident itself, a commission has reaffirmed in ordering the reinstatement of a worker sacked for failing to report an allegedly unsafe driving incident. His failure to report was mitigated by the fact that his supervisor witnessed and recorded the event, the commission found.
The new International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) guide to safety reporting and evaluation, with its increased focus on recognising and measuring "all the good that a business does", will improve safety culture through to the "boots on the ground ", according to the convenor of the working group that led its development.
Employers will be explicitly required to add "critical controls", as defined in international guidelines, to their safety management systems, under legislative amendments aimed at "facilitating the growth in high-reliability organisational (HRO) behaviour" in the resources sector.
A PCBU has been fined $450,000 for WHS breaches involving a worker being hit by a forklift, in a case that saw a director cleared of due diligence breaches.