Browsing: Contractors | Page 50

A major employer accused of WHS breaches has committed to spending more than $800,000 on developing an all-industry mobile app for managing contractors and on other initiatives, after already spending $400,000 on improving workplace safety.

An employer had been entitled to rely on an experienced subcontractor to perform a lifting task safely, a court of appeal has found in stripping the injured subcontractor of more than $820,000 in damages.

A contractor involved in the construction of the Sydney Opera House has failed to convince the Court of Appeal that there was no evidence it knew asbestos was used at the site. The Court also found that damages awarded to the family of a mesothelioma victim cannot be reduced by compensation already paid to the widow.

The Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal (RSRT) has decided to include the pay rates from a KPMG cost model in its new draft order, after employer groups that opposed the model failed to back up their claims of excessive costs with any data.

An employer has been handed the highest fine for a single safety offence in Australian history, in a case, according to the ACT Work Safety Commissioner, which shows judges will impose significant penalties, under the harmonised WHS Act, on those with poor safety records.

An organisation's robust safety management system promotes "living and breathing" safety and has an "enviable safety track record", according to its HSQS manager, who has outlined 10 ways to reduce low-level injuries.

A NSW delivery driver has been awarded nearly $1 million in damages for a serious ankle injury, which he sustained after a construction site supervisor directed him to unload heavy materials on an uneven surface instead of a nearby loading dock.

John Holland has been fined $110,000 in the first of two safety prosecutions it is facing relating to the incident-ridden construction of the Brisbane Airport Link.

PCBUs are being advised to follow seven steps when developing or updating an independent contractor management plan, and to ensure they can provide safety inspectors with proof of their WHS compliance.

The NSW Court of Appeal has rejected a principal contractor's claim that it didn't have "any right" to require a subcontractor to provide safe equipment.