Browsing: Duty holders | Page 95

Ill-considered decisions on the COVID-19 vaccination, and on whether it should be mandatory for workers, could result in employers facing costly discrimination, harassment and bullying claims, a leading workplace advisor has warned.

An employer breached safety Regulations and its duty of care to a worker through its "failure to know" about the broken equipment she needed to use, but it has dodged a damages bill of nearly $700,000.

Australia's first WHS Code of Practice on eliminating and minimising psychosocial risks has taken effect in NSW, and will, according to the State Government, remove the "guesswork" from tackling the issue. NSW has also launched its work safety awards for 2021.

Many Australian workers believe acts of workplace violence are just "part of the job" and choose to "forget" incidents instead of reporting them, making the issue difficult to address, WorkSafe Victoria's safety boss tells OHS Alert.

The High Court has agreed to consider the scope of employers' OHS duties to workers who resist measures aimed at protecting their psychological health, in a case involving a lawyer whose $435,000 award for post-traumatic stress disorder was quashed in November.

In the latest of a growing number of reckless conduct cases, a company director and a worker could both be jailed for up to five years, after being charged over the death of a man within the "strike radius" of mobile plant.

A PCBU that failed to take any precautionary steps against hazardous weather conditions has been handed a hefty WHS fine of $665,000, after a vulnerable worker sustained devastating crush injuries.

• Endorsed industrial death principles released by SWA;
  
• Dangerous goods and environmental duties amended in Vic; and
  
• Labour-hire scheme with WHS clauses starts in ACT tomorrow.

A company director charged over a fatal fall has been sentenced to the longest term of imprisonment ever imposed for a work health and safety offence in Australia, while his Western Australian company has received a State record high fine of $605,000.

• COVID compliance checks of employers stepping up in Vic;
  
• Comcare reveals COVID strategies in 2020 review; and
  
• Royal Mint faces up to $3.5m in fines under three WHS charges.