An employer that failed to identify the need to both electrically and mechanically isolate a machine for a maintenance task has been fined for safety breaches, after a worker's legs were amputated below the knee.
An employer that failed to provide a forklift without blind spots has been fined over a fatality. Meanwhile, another employer has been fined for maintenance breaches resulting in a death, and a construction company has been convicted of ignoring prohibition notices.
Two employers, including one that covered a dangerous ventilation shaft with a thin layer of concrete, have been ordered to pay a total of $235,000 in fines and costs, after workers sustained serious limb injuries. Meanwhile, another company has entered a $160,000 safety undertaking after a customer was injured.
The safety company and engineer charged over the death of an eight-year-old girl at the Royal Adelaide Show in 2014 are the first parties to be charged with category 1 offences under the WHS Act in South Australia, and among the first in the country.
A study replicating the effects of occupational vibration on rats has found vibrations can activate or inhibit biological pathways associated with cell division and the development of cancer.
A company that failed to act on a risk assessment has been fined $111,000 after a worker's arm was amputated, while a restaurant has become the first entity to be convicted under section 33 of South Australia's mirror WHS Act.
Fines imposed on two related companies after a worker was killed have been increased from a total of $450,000 to $1.5 million, with the Victorian Court of Appeal stressing that prosecutors aren't required to prove that a safety breach caused an incident.
An employer that trained workers in lock-out procedures and ladder safety, but failed to "monitor and enforce" what was taught, has been convicted of OHS breaches.
A court has upheld fatality-related OHS charges against an employer and three company officers, including an executive whose tenure ended four months before the fatality occurred.
