Browsing: Fatigue | Page 5

A major employer has been fined $70,000 for serious contraventions of its consultation obligations, with the Federal Court finding it pursued a "commercial benefit" ahead of the safety of its workers and others affected by its undertaking.

• Safety-prosecution changes demanded after $1.5m fine imposed; and
  
• Workplace heat warning issued with concerning forecast.

A major employer did not need to prove an "immediate and current issue" existed to justify implementing its new fatigue-busting roster, which was influenced by the transition to more prescriptive safety obligations, a commission has found.

A supervisor's plan to maximise employees' sleep and prevent fatigue would have reduced the amount of sleep one worker could get, a commission has found in finding the worker was unfairly sacked for defying the supervisor's instructions.

• Fatigue "misalignment" events ignored prior to crash-fire death;
  
• WHS visits tumble in SA in COVID era;
  
• Inconsistent understanding of silica risks identified in ACT; and
  
• SIRA to target overservicing in the workers' comp system.

Chain-of-responsibility parties like schedulers that fail to ensure drivers are properly trained in managing fatigue, and don't speed, must face penalties that are heavy enough to deter similar offending by others, a superior court has found in increasing a business's fine twelvefold.

A major employer that exposed a worker to the "obvious" safety risks created by performing excessive hours, while handling knives and heavy objects, has been fined a total of nearly $100,000 for multiple Fair Work contraventions.

• Director barred for safety breaches, consignor targeted;
  
• Compliance Codes for silica made and revoked in Vic;
  
• Workers' comp changes introduced in Tas;
  
• Healthy workplaces service launched in SA; and
  
• Cheong gets permanent WHS director role in NT.

Miners who struggle with heavy workloads experience unsafe "states" that significantly increase the risk of work incidents, but high levels of job satisfaction can mitigate the risk and regular workload assessments are crucial, a study has found.

A worker who was sacked for regularly beaching fatigue management laws, and accused of having a "cavalier" approach to safety, was unfairly dismissed, a commission has ruled, after hearing his employer's previous owner threatened to terminate his position if he refused to drive longer than the legal 12-hour limit.