Browsing: Fatalities | Page 115

A worker who injured his knee after tripping over a vacuum cleaner left in a corridor has been awarded workers' compensation, while an employer has been ordered to pay a deceased worker's family $336,000 in lump sum compensation.

• Fatalities highlight need for individual JSAs;
  
• Forklift complaints in log book ignored prior to death; and
  
• Anti-bullying claims rate falls despite recent prediction.

Employers are being urged to assess whether their work processes are encouraging employees to break safety rules, after a Safe Work Australia report found a link between risk taking and high fatality and injury rates.

The NSW Supreme Court has clarified the extent of safety inspectors' entry powers under the State WHS Act, in rejecting an employer's claim that an inspector who entered its workplace after a fatality couldn't interview witnesses before seeking any required information in writing.

A parliamentary committee has warned that a gap in safety legislation is exposing FIFO workers to bullying and other risks at accommodation facilities, and accused Rio Tinto of 'underplaying' the impact of FIFO work on mental health.

• Gap in palletiser fence leads to death and $100k fine;
  
• Alerts issued after deaths and other incidents in three states; and
  
• Western Australians urged to attend seminars on green WHS Bill.

The CFMEU has questioned how a Grocon subsidiary can be fined just $250,000 over three deaths when the union was fined $1.25 million for "speaking out" on safety issues, while Federal Employment Minister Eric Abetz has accused the union of being "pro-drugs" on Victorian building sites.

• Both personal and process safety must be measured, regulator warns; and
  
• New jurisdiction welcomed to national rail safety regime.

• Registrations open for OHS Alert subscriber webinar on employee accountability for safety;
  
• Work-related death rate soars in August; and
  
• WorkCover NSW drops two scheme agents.

The Federal Court has rejected an employer's claim that a worker's widow isn't entitled to compensation because the man's death was "inevitable".