Three companies and a supervisor have been fined a total of more than $2.1 million over two serious mine safety incidents, including one where the supervisor removed warning signs from a hazardous area just moments before a worker was killed there.
At a retrial, a court has confirmed a company breached safety regulations by failing to ensure enough expert workers were involved in operating a crane at a workplace where a fatality occurred.
Two employers have been fined a total of nearly $300,000 over machine entrapment incidents, including a major company that failed to assess the competency of its workers in safety procedures.
A coroner has expressed his "fervent hope" that companies and heavy vehicle drivers will cease the common dangerous practice of placing modified window shades on windscreens, in his inquest into the blind-spot-related death of a worker in a parking area.
In a rare case, an employer has been prosecuted and fined for workplace health and safety breaches after high levels of the hazardous substance lead were detected in the blood of four of its workers.
An employer that failed to take steps to avoid very obvious safety risks has had its safety fine more than doubled on resentencing, over an incident demonstrating the legislative requirement to pair high level controls with proactive training and supervision.