Provisions enabling the "aggregation of conduct" are being added to the ACT's WHS laws to deal with offences like reckless conduct, hindering inspectors and supplying incorrectly labelled chemicals, under a Bill that also significantly increases WHS penalties.
A company that received a record-breaking WHS recklessness fine, over the death of an apprentice, has failed to reduce a $1.3 million payout to an injured labour-hire worker through the application of a "notoriously difficult" legislative provision.
A company and its director have been charged with WHS recklessness, which was allegedly identified during an investigation into a helicopter crash that occurred just moments after a worker suspended under the aircraft was cut free and fell to his death.
A worker has been convicted of safety breaches that caused a colleague to become crushed between two vehicles and sustain life-threatening injuries, with a court finding he should have been aware of the danger his co-worker was in.
Two PCBUs that failed to consult on task planning and mechanical aids have been fined over a teenager's death, while a business owner with a long history of safety breaches has been fined for endangering motorists through the performance of "poor quality" work next to a highway.
Safe Work Australia has launched an interactive tool to help PCBUs understand when and how to use safe work method statements, which must be utilised for at least 18 types of high-risk construction work.
A WHS regulator has outlined the kinds of risks that employers are obligated to assess for workers travelling to remote regions, while a fellow regulator has explained how WHS laws operate in relation to high-temperature hazards.