Browsing: Workplace safety | Page 1

A commission has cautioned that society's "significantly raised" bar for what constitutes consent for physical interactions is "even higher" in work-related environments, in upholding the summary dismissal of a worker for inappropriately touching a colleague.

Workplace cultures that promulgate the image of "bulletproof" workers that need to be tough to do their jobs can magnify the "insidious" effects of vicarious trauma, a top complex trauma expert says.

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.

• WHS penalties increase significantly as ACT Bill passes; and
  
• HVNL amended by host jurisdiction.

Up to half of working parents in Australia are experiencing psychologically harmful workplace discrimination, showing policies delivering inclusivity for those with caring responsibilities are urgently needed, researchers say.

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

An employer has been found liable for a worker's Achilles injury and ordered to pay him damages, after it negligently failed to change the flat battery on a piece of powered mobile plant.

A company director charged over a forklift incident was recently cleared by a court of breaching his WHS due diligence duties. In this article, his lawyers explain the reasons behind the decision, and what it says about the reach of officers' safety obligations.

Glowing safety audit reports often precede major safety disasters, showing organisations need "loud" indicators to signal when audits are failing, an HSE leader says.

• 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.