Browsing: Authority/inspectorate (ACT) | Page 9

• Indoor work temperature could affect COVID-19 spread;
  
• Workplace consultation key to WHS compliance in pandemic; and
  
• ACT workers affected by pandemic offered portable leave.

A worker has been sentenced to 12 months' jail for reckless conduct that killed a co-worker, in a judgment revealing a litany of safety failures resulting from inadequate training, time pressures and cost-saving measures.

• PCBU enters $770k EU after crane failure on 51st floor;
  
• WHS fees waived under NSW's COVID-19 stimulus package;
  
• Fatality and other incident alerts issued in five jurisdictions; and
  
• New ACT WHS Commissioner appointed.

In this latest edition of our long-running quarterly update series, OHS Alert reviews all the key WHS news from the first three months of 2020, including everything you need to know on the COVID-19 pandemic, the findings on Dreamworld's dismal safety systems, caselaw from all jurisdictions, and legislative changes.

Resources companies have been urged to implement a string of extra precautions to protect fly-in-fly-out and drive-in-drive-out workers, in camps or "on the move", from COVID-19. Meanwhile, ACT employers have been directed to conduct coronavirus risk assessments and ensure their contractors comply with hygiene rules.

A fine imposed on an employer for safety breaches, including one captured on a worker's mobile phone, has been more than doubled after the prosecutor appealed. Meanwhile, a regulator has issued dozens of prohibition notices in a blitz, and expressed frustration at the poor attitude to safety shown by "many" duty holders.

A crane operator originally charged with the manslaughter of a co-worker has pleaded guilty to reckless conduct, and faces penalties of up to five years' jail and $300,000.

An employer that largely ignored the reasonably practicable and inexpensive control measures identified in 10 improvement notices has been convicted and fined $125,000, while two regulators have issued fatality alerts outlining height and post-bushfire safety measures.

In this much anticipated report, OHS Alert outlines all the major legislative changes and court decisions on workplace health and safety and workers' comp issues in the final quarter of 2019.

• Regulator outlines WHS duties to non-English speakers; and
  
• Higher order noise controls overlooked, alerts issued.