Australian employers have been granted permission to supply or accept chemicals that don't comply with the new global labelling system after 1 January, while NSW has granted a number of exemptions from the system. Meanwhile, Safe Work Australia has explained how Australian Standards interact with WHS laws.
Another major study - this time from Australia - has found a significant association between legal levels of workplace diesel exhaust and lung cancer, prompting calls for more stringent occupational exposure limits.
An employer has unsuccessfully claimed that a manufacturer was partly liable for a worker's hand amputation, by supplying equipment without adequate guarding.
An employer has been fined after a roof collapsed and killed a labour-hire worker, with a court finding it failed to maintain an effective system for keeping the roof free of debris.
An employer has introduced new engineering and administrative controls, and committed to leadership and communication training, after a worker was seriously injured by a power tong.
An employer has been convicted and fined $80,000 after a worker fell three metres down an unguarded stairwell void, while a local council has entered a $120,000 enforceable undertaking after an employee's foot became entangled in a machine.
Safe occupational exposure limits for carcinogenic diesel motor exhaust are far lower than common exposures, and can't be achieved by "older technology" diesel engines, a European quantitative risk assessment has found.
