OHS risks arising from the increasing use of 3D printing across multiple industries include exposure to hazardous substances, the proliferation of non-conforming building products and poor worker wellbeing, according to a special report from Europe's peak safety agency.
An employer that claimed it discharged its OHS duties, by ensuring the manufacturer of two of its machines was properly certified, has been ordered to pay nearly $200,000 in fines and costs, after a worker's hand was amputated in one of the machines.
An employer has entered the most expensive WHS enforceable undertaking in NSW history, totalling more than $1.5 million and involving a State-wide machine safety audit.
A company officer failed to exercise due diligence to ensure her company complied with its WHS duty to register plant or prohibit operators from using their mobile phones, a court has found in convicting her over the death of an eight-year-old girl at a show.
In another case that appears to extend common law duty of care principles, a "non-employer" has been ordered to pay an injured labour-hire worker $1.35 million in damages, after its tagging failures allowed an unidentified person to interfere with vital equipment.
A major employer has responded to a series of hot-work incidents and reduced injuries by establishing a "high performance" team of frontline employees, safety managers, engineers and union experts.
A health expert has questioned the veracity of research linking workplace electromagnetic fields to motor neuron disease, while Australia's radiation regulator has called for more prospective studies on the possible effects of using mobile phones, including cancer and neurobehavioural symptoms.
