A PCBU accused of failing to separate pedestrians from mobile plant has become the first entity to be charged with industrial manslaughter under section 34C of the Queensland WHS Act. Its two company directors were charged with reckless conduct.
A major WHS audit, prompted by two scissor lift fatalities and a coronial inquest, has warned that introducing mobile plant to "reduce risk factors" can "present new ones", and outlined safety factors to consider when using elevating work platforms.
A major employer in the health sector is implementing a "kiosk system" with status alerts to monitor contractors and safety performance, as part of a WHS undertaking relating to the death of a newborn baby and severe injuries sustained by another.
A PCBU has been convicted and fined $180,000 after a worker was seriously injured in a fall, in another case involving the use of inadequate administrative controls for height risks.
A second PCBU has entered into a WHS undertaking after a worker caught on fire at a site's refuelling facility, taking the total undertaking and rectification spend by the two companies to more than $2.5 million.
A workplace "exclusion zone" was established in a way that "invited" rather than deterred access to the area, and contributed to a work experience student's life-changing injuries, a court has found in convicting and fining a PCBU.