Browsing: Authority/inspectorate (SA)

WHS laws could be amended, and prosecutory functions expanded, with a former Federal Court judge being appointed to review the adequacy of a WHS investigation into the murder of a nurse.

A PCBU that declined to act on the safety advice of an electrician has been convicted and fined for three serious WHS offences, including failing to consult and coordinate activities with the company tasked with installing and commissioning its imported plant.

• Manager with bullying "injury" ordered to repay $100k;
  
• WHS regulator lays fatality charge and issues blade alert; and
  
• NT amends WHS clause on "white cards", reports powerline incidents.

A worker has lost a bid for lump sum compensation for hearing loss, after a tribunal found an audiogram conducted six years prior to his impairment assessment was validly used to reject his claim.

In an important ruling for a workers' compensation scheme, an appeals court has overturned two earlier decisions, and ruled that weekly payments to partial dependants of killed workers can be increased, and unemployment benefits can be considered, in reviews of weekly payments.

• Step up safety with increasing demands, say regulators;
  
• Employers urged to utilise WHS tool for young workers; and
  
• Waivers don't reduce WHS duties to children.

A tribunal has found that a previous full-bench ruling on what constitutes surgery for workers' comp purposes is not exhaustive or "even relevant to each case", and stressed that "penetration of the body is not always involved".

In a case where "parallel" duty holders were charged over a worker's death, a PCBU has been found guilty of breaching WHS laws in relying on training and signage rather than engineering measures to control risks arising from new equipment with an unusual design.

• New industrial manslaughter laws to follow SA election; and
  
• Large-scale COVID testing announced for WA FIFO workers.

• Have you assessed your workplace buildings for asbestos? A WHS regulator is checking, in support of national plan; and
  
• Employer fined after forklift load falls.