Browsing: Contractors | Page 11

A Fair Work Commission full bench has quashed a ruling that a gig economy worker was an employee protected by unfair dismissal laws, rejecting the man's claim that the WHS rules imposed on him by Deliveroo were inconsistent with an independent contracting arrangement.

A PCBU has been prosecuted and fined for failing to ensure forklift loads were properly secured when raised onto high racking, while a company and one of its workers have been fined for breaching safety laws and the "Wiring Rules".

A crane owner, operating as a PCBU, has been found guilty of breaching WHS laws on two counts after he allowed an unqualified worker to drive his crane because he was running late, leading to two workers suffering electric shocks from powerlines.

A government department and a charity, which discouraged workers from seeking refuge in an office in violent situations, have been fined for workplace safety breaches after multiple workers were assaulted by a violent child. Both parties admitted the balance of care was "tilted too much in favour of the [child's] welfare".

• New "passport" process adds "dignity" to workplace adjustments;
  
• WHS regulator clarifies "direct supervision" duties; and
  
• Duty holders warned against scaffolding modifications.

The prosecution of a man over a subcontractor's death has shown that under modern workplace health and safety laws, individuals cannot escape liability for breaches by folding a company. Meanwhile, a regulator has called for employers to do more to protect workers performing tasks near trucks, following four fatalities in two months.

A company has been fined $210,000 for WHS contraventions involving load-restraint failings, after improperly restrained heavy pipes fell from the back of a trailer and crushed a worker's legs, leading to an amputation.

A PCBU and its director have been convicted over a worker's 6.5-metre fall onto a concrete floor, with a judge finding they were obligated to provide personnel with external height safety training, but failed to do so.

In only the third case of its kind in NSW, a PCBU has pleaded guilty to recklessly breaching the State's WHS laws, in relation to the death of a teenage worker in a scaffolding disaster - an incident that led to new safety standards and calls for tougher enforcement.

A PCBU has been fined a total of $600,000 over two incidents resulting in the electric-shock death of one worker, and the hospitalisation of two who fell four metres, with a judge slamming its "hands off" approach to safety.