PCBUs have been reminded of their WHS duties to children, after one entity was fined over a drowning death and another over a forklift joyride. Meanwhile, the ACT has launched a campaign against workplace violence, and reminded employers of the new WHS duty to report "actual or suspected" incidents of workplace s-xual assault.
An injury-causing crane was in such poor condition that a critical component fell off it while it was being examined under a WHS investigation, a magistrate has noted in handing the owner a pre-discount penalty of $400,000.
From next week, employers in Canberra will have a duty to report "actual or suspected" incidents of workplace s-xual assault to a WHS regulator, under new laws that also ban insurance against WHS penalties.
This major user-friendly report looks back at all the major and most interesting workplace safety and compensation developments from the start of the calendar year, including the ministerial vote on industrial manslaughter, multiple manslaughter charges, the widespread introduction of new psychosocial risk regulations, and a major WHS case involving the deaths of overseas students.
A "policy maze" inhibited the staff of a school from properly categorising and risk assessing a regular off-site activity, and led to the death of a boy in a game, a coronial inquest has found.
Canberra businesses that contravene their WHS duties will be more likely to end up in court under a "hybrid" prosecutorial model championed by a WHS regulator. They also face hefty on-the-spot WHS fines under changes commencing today.
