Browsing: Authority/inspectorate (NT) | Page 10

Australia's highest work safety fine and the offence of workplace manslaughter are being introduced to the Victorian Parliament today. Meanwhile, regulators have issued a fatality alert and tips on working safely in heat and with elevating work platforms.

In this update, OHS Alert revisits all the important work health and safety and workers' compensation legislative changes from the third quarter of 2019. We also recap the most significant court and tribunal rulings and other developments from across the country.

Employers have been warned there are no excuses for allowing workers to risk their safety by clearing machinery that is not switched off, after a company was convicted over a young worker's injuries. Meanwhile, the employer of a worker killed by a runaway vehicle could be fined up to $9 million, after being charged with WHS offences.

• Walk to work and hold walking meetings tomorrow;
  
• Pre-start checks urged after death, alerts issued in three jurisdictions; and
  
• WHS exemptions made for ACT chemicals, ARPANSA releases guide.

• BHP failed to mark unsafe work road;
  
• Parliamentary committee seeks feedback on NT manslaughter Bill; and
  
• Bill narrows labour-hire scheme with WHS test in SA.

• Two "casual" PCBUs fined 2% of maximum WHS penalty; and
  
• Regulator wins second bid to challenge death benefits award.

• Draft WHS Code targets 6,000-plus workers and fall risks in NSW;
  
• New OHS Regulations deliver on silicosis plan in Vic;
  
• WHS Regulations for lead and diving amended in NT; and
  
• WHS innovation and research grants offered by Tas.

• Another PCBU enters fatality-related WHS undertaking; and
  
• Employer and director's WHS-related entry fines redirected to union.

Woolworths Ltd has escaped prosecution for category 2 WHS breaches, relating to the death of a man who was run over while sleeping in one of its loading docks, after promising to spend nearly $1.8 million on improving back docks, installing defibrillators and other safety initiatives.

The Northern Territory has agreed to introduce industrial manslaughter laws with life imprisonment for company officers within a year, but warned that a review recommendation on workplace health and safety officers (WHSOs) could weaken safety standards.