Two of the first entities charged with reckless conduct under harmonised WHS laws have failed to overturn the charges, with a full court rejecting their claim that their duty to "other persons" was limited to the exact time of their alleged recklessness.
A ballooning company faces a WHS fine of up to $1.5 million, after a court quashed an earlier finding that a fatality was an aviation rather than workplace matter. Meanwhile, a school operator has been charged with a category 2 offence after a student was killed at a carnival.
New safety Regulations have been made under three statutes in Victoria, and will commence at about the same time as proposed amendments to the OHS Act.
An employer has spent $245,000 on safety rectifications and committed a further $394,000 to other initiatives after a worker's foot was crushed in an unguarded machine. Meanwhile, another employer has committed more than $300,000 to safety undertakings and rectifications after a worker's hand was crushed.
Cleanaway Operations Pty Ltd has been handed another record work health and safety fine, this time after a worker was injured in a chemical fire during a production trial.
A safety regulator has issued four prohibition and improvement notices to three employers involved in an oil rig where a worker was killed two years ago.
An employer has been fined for failing to instruct personnel on the risks associated with a maintenance task, after a worker sustained head injuries, while a man who was bitten by a red back spider at work has been convicted for over-claiming nearly $15,000 in treatment travel costs.
A judge has reiterated the vulnerability of work experience students and fined a company $250,000, after a 17-year-old student's hand was crushed in a machine.
