The final quarter of 2023 was marked by wholesale WHS changes affecting all duty holders. This report examines the amendments, as well as changes to other laws and all the need-to-know caselaw from the period.
A WHS regulator has outlined the kinds of risks that employers are obligated to assess for workers travelling to remote regions, while a fellow regulator has explained how WHS laws operate in relation to high-temperature hazards.
A worker's pericarditis from his third COVID-19 vaccination was significantly contributed to by his employment and is compensable, a tribunal has ruled in examining vaccine mandates and the operation of emergency management laws.
An employer's multiple efforts to engineer out a safety risk failed to prevent a worker's serious crush injuries because of the absence of supplementary administrative controls, a court has found in fining the employer.
A magistrate has slammed a company's "casual approach" to WHS, which "fell well below the standards required" of it, finding a worker would have been conscious of and avoided placing himself in a hazardous position if proper systems had been implemented.
Safe Work Australia has committed to immediately drafting changes to the national model WHS laws to reflect the outcomes of yesterday's WHS ministers meeting on engineered stone and other issues. The non-harmonised state of Victoria will make similar changes to its safety legislation.
The passage of an amended industrial manslaughter Bill, through South Australia's Parliament, has been described as a "game-changer" for WHS compliance. Meanwhile, the Commonwealth jurisdiction's WHS Act is being amended to empower those directly affected by workplace safety incidents to provide advice to regulators.
A major company and a state government are among the latest entities to formerly commit to phasing out silicosis-causing engineered stone and implementing a WHS ban on the substance.
A court has rejected a worker's claim that her employer unlawfully threatened to lodge a workers' compensation claim, against her will, after she raised safety concerns affecting her mental health.
