Browsing: Authority/inspectorate (NSW) | Page 78

• FIFO rosters and motelling targeted at ALP conference;
  
• FIFO drug and alcohol helpline launched in WA; and
  
• Workers' comp tool for employers launched in NSW.

In this article, OHS Alert examines all the most important workplace safety and workers' compensation news from the second quarter of 2015, including a record OHS fine, a world-first decision on PTSD, and legislative changes in every state and territory.

• Two employers and director found guilty of asbestos breaches;
  
• Prime contractor, consignor and driver fined for safety breaches; and
  
• Five WHS Codes of Practice amended in ACT.

• Supreme Court decision sends safety-document warning;
  
• Anti-bullying regime creating "adversarial" environments; and
  
• Victoria establishes taskforce to tackle occupational violence.

A company has been acquitted of fatality-related WHS breaches, after a judge found it was "diligent" in its attempts to protect non-employees, and was entitled to rely on the expertise of a downstream duty holder.

A young worker who died after being left to operate a forklift alone in an industrial freezer hadn't received OHS or forklift training, the NSW Coroner has found.

• Injured doctor awarded $959k in Pel-Air case;
  
• Man fined heavily for intimidating WorkCover inspector; and
  
• Survey to guide workers' comp improvements.

A regulator's power to obtain information under the model WHS Act isn't blocked by state borders or limited to documents that specifically refer to health and safety matters, the NSW Supreme Court has found in rejecting an employer's appeal against a $114,000 penalty.

Workers' comp disputes will be simplified, and exceptions made to caps on medical coverage and permanent impairment claims, under recommendations the WorkCover Independent Review Office is likely to make to the NSW Government.

• Royal Commission into rising WA work deaths demanded;
  
• Safety alerts issued in three jurisdictions; and
  
• High-risk licences expiring in South Australia.