Qantas has unsuccessfully argued that a worker's pre-existing weight problems and deep vein thrombosis broke the chain of causation between a workplace back injury and his death from a lung embolism.
The coronial inquest into the Dreamworld disaster, which killed four patrons, has provided an enlightening albeit disturbing guide on how not to run a workplace safety department, with the theme park's numerous failings including its reliance on "frighteningly unsophisticated" safety systems and unqualified staff, and the absence of holistic risk assessments across 30 years.
A lack of consultation and the absence of pressing safety needs have blocked a national transport company's decision to change its blood alcohol limit for certain drivers from the same as general law to zero.
> New WHS fines, bans and threshold for silica confirmed in NSW; > SWA releases 30 new work health monitoring guides; and > New on-the-spot fines for rest-break breaches introduced.
An employer that mixed large quantities of incompatible chemicals, despite workers' safety concerns, has been convicted and fined after a number of workers and neighbouring businesses were exposed to toxic fumes.
In a brace of tragic coincidences this week, the death of two train workers in a derailment came just a day after a regulator released its findings on the death of a rail worker distracted by his mobile phone, while a worker was killed in a shipping container incident after an employer was fined heavily over a similar fatality.
The former public prosecutor awarded more than $430,000 in damages for PTSD and depression this week should have been monitored for psychological "red flags", and the failure to do so represented a missed opportunity for welfare checks and early intervention, court documents show.
Employers have a legal duty to identify and manage reasonably foreseeable workplace psychological hazards, and protect workers from unsafely high work demands and bullying, a SafeWork NSW director told a forum on mental health in the legal industry today.
More types of workers will have access to workers' compensation, and journey claims will be restored, under a 38-page Amendment Bill that reverses many of the changes made during the major overhaul of the Northern Territory's workers' comp scheme in 2015.
