Three employers have been fined a total of nearly $1.5 million over an explosion and a structural collapse, including one company that failed to ensure customers transported dangerous goods in a safe manner, and a business that failed to properly instruct personnel on an unfamiliar work procedure.
Mining giant Fortescue Metals Group could be fined up to nearly $1.9 million, after being charged with dozens of counts of failing to produce documents, relating to alleged s-xual harassment at its sites, in the first case launched under Western Australia's version of the national model WHS laws.
This major OHS Alert report reviews all the need-to-know workplace health and safety and workers' comp developments from the past few months, including the passage of game-changing Respect@Work laws, numerous WHS amendments, COVID rulings, a state-first workplace manslaughter charge, and a record-smashing reckless conduct fine.
An analysis of a manufacturing disaster that killed five workers has shown how "human factors can contribute to a sequence of events that lead to a major incident", and what employers can do to curb this.
Two companies, including one that failed to implement a mandatory rescue plan for excavation work, have been fined a total of $720,000, plus $35,000 in costs, in relation to the drowning of a worker in a trench.