Husband and wife breached WHS Act after buying chemicals online; WA employer fined in first asbestos-identification prosecution; Bystanders dominate work-related road death toll; and Union predicts high truck-related fatality rate for 2014.
A new report has found that more than 700 Australians die from mesothelioma and asbestosis every year, and workers continue to be exposed to asbestos fibres. Meanwhile, a union warns the death toll will rise if the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Council is abolished.
Injured worker's wife convicted of workers' comp fraud; Repeat OHS offender fined $70k; NSW releases void-safety video as Queenslander dies in fall; and Asbestos detected in mining product.
WA employer fined after poorly trained foreign worker killed; Fines for building-defect breaches increased 10-fold in ACT; and Tasmanian safety regulators going through transformation.
The NSW Dust Diseases Tribunal has awarded a mesothelioma sufferer $350,000 in general damages, effectively increasing the maximum level of such damages by more than 20 per cent.
State and territory OHS laws can "operate interactively" with the Fair Work Act without undermining the Commonwealth's power to make industrial laws, the Federal Court has confirmed in ruling against an employer in a safety-related entry dispute.
SWA adds 10 chemicals to hazardous substance system; SA Libs promise cancer compensation for all volunteer firefighters; ACT employers ordered to cease operating after asbestos scare; Another SA director fined for OHS breaches; and Alerts issued after confined space and explosives incidents.
Employers that believe they're prepared for everything regarding safety and risks should still have procedures for managing issues that come "out of left field", says Telstra's chief risk officer.
