Browsing: Equipment and plant | Page 5

A local council that faced a maximum WHS penalty of more than $7 million, relating to an allegedly unsafe plant modification aimed at protecting workers from crocodiles, has been permitted to enter a $76,500 undertaking in lieu of prosecution.

A burnout study of nearly 7,000 workers across 2,000 companies has highlighted the importance of supplying workers with reliable technology, and technical assistance, to help them maintain their mental health and productivity.

Two employers have been sentenced for safety breaches resulting in life-changing amputations, including one company that failed to comply with an authorisation requiring only certain personnel to work near overhead powerlines.

A Victorian company that pleaded guilty to recklessly endangering an apprentice, while he was being supervised by the company director, has been fined $2.1 million - a penalty that is more than double the State's previous record safety fine for a single offence.

Two employers have been fined a total of nearly $300,000 over machine entrapment incidents, including a major company that failed to assess the competency of its workers in safety procedures.

• Workplace harassment bystanders advised to take four steps; and
  
• WHS exemption applied to WA mines, department changes name.

A company that was prosecuted, over a high-profile fatality, for breaching its safety duties as a supplier of plant, has unsuccessfully argued that its $400,000 penalty was excessive because it had no control over the location of workers when the incident occurred.

A major energy company that failed to implement an adequate visual inspection regime for power poles, and a business that failed to manage asphyxia risks, have been fined a total of nearly $500,000 over fatalities. Meanwhile, duty holders have been urged to assess the risk of heat-related illnesses, after an outdoor worker died in hot weather.

• Weak exclusion-zone controls increased fumes risk; and
  
• WHS exemption applied and Code remade in WA.

A PCBU has successfully challenged the size of its penalties for failing to comply with WHS notices, with a court finding the fines were too severe given the company "took significant steps" and spent a lot of money attempting to achieve compliance.