> PCBU ordered to train WHS officer and fined $76k; > High-risk work strategy and other safety initiatives launched in NSW; > New dust disease victims identified under WHS screening scheme; and > NSW WHS review announced, explosives list gazetted.
A major employer has committed $364,200 to developing an industry safety standard after a worker's fingers were degloved in a tag-out incident. Meanwhile, an employer has been fined for safety breaches secretly filmed by an employee.
Costly workplace exercise programs might improve workers' physical capacity, but employers can gain similar benefits from providing them with personalised fitness management, which does not require space or equipment, researchers say.
After being flagged in the State budget more than seven years ago, Western Australia has finally introduced a mirror WHS Bill, which includes a two-level industrial manslaughter offence and a new duty of care for "WHS service providers". Meanwhile, the Northern Territory's industrial manslaughter laws have passed Parliament.
Thousands of asbestos-containing materials are still in place in workplaces and homes and employers that disregard the deadly hazard are being targeted, according to warnings issued for national Asbestos Awareness Week this week. Meanwhile, the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency's functions are likely to be expanded under the recommendations of a statutory review tabled in Parliament today.
An Australian employer has unsuccessfully argued that if it is found liable for injuries a worker sustained in a job performed entirely in a foreign country it will be put at a commercial disadvantage, and this cannot be the intent of workers' comp laws.
Victoria has become the third Australian jurisdiction to enshrine the offence of industrial manslaughter in law, with an Amendment Bill (and the country's highest work health and safety fine) passing Parliament without any changes yesterday.
An Australian project involving wearable sensors has found certain common manual handling tasks in the healthcare sector are far more hazardous than previously thought, and identified cost-effective ways to control the risks.
A worker sacked for falling asleep on a high-risk job has unsuccessfully argued that his cough medicine made him drowsy and his dismissal was unfair. Meanwhile, the CSIRO has been fined $7,500 for taking adverse action against an injured worker through the actions of a senior HSE manager.
