The final quarter of 2023 was marked by wholesale WHS changes affecting all duty holders. This report examines the amendments, as well as changes to other laws and all the need-to-know caselaw from the period.
Safe Work Australia has launched an interactive tool to help PCBUs understand when and how to use safe work method statements, which must be utilised for at least 18 types of high-risk construction work.
Employers that operate heavy vehicles have been "challenged" to review and overhaul their fatigue management systems, after a company's national operations manager was sentenced to three years' jail for recklessness that led to the deaths of four police officers.
The "palpable" difference in a worker's wrist symptoms between home and work showed her workplace computer duties caused her pain response and significantly contributed to her tendonitis linked to a congenital condition, a tribunal has ruled.
A tribunal has granted a regulator access to an injured worker's medical records from 13 different entities, finding her objections around privacy were understandable but outweighed by other considerations.
A major government employer has been fined $600,000 over a train fatality and injuries that occurred in circumstances where drivers had a restricted view, and that triggered mandatory reviews of safety systems for a high-risk procedure.
Safe Work Australia has committed to immediately drafting changes to the national model WHS laws to reflect the outcomes of yesterday's WHS ministers meeting on engineered stone and other issues. The non-harmonised state of Victoria will make similar changes to its safety legislation.
