A PCBU has been handed a pre-discount penalty of $300,000, after its "unexplained disregard" for guarding requirements led to the amputation of five of a teenage worker's fingers. Meanwhile, a repeat offender's latest safety fines have been increased significantly, after a regulator appealed.
The start dates for a range of new WHS clauses have been postponed in Western Australia, while a Bill providing presumptive compensation to certain workers with PTSD has been reintroduced in South Australia.
A WHS regulator has revealed that it has received hundreds of complaints about the conditions of workplace toilets, and highlighted the association between substandard facilities and poor safety outcomes.
An appeals tribunal has confirmed that being exposed to sanitisers widely-used during the COVID-19 pandemic caused a worker to develop a compensable sensitivity to various workplace chemicals.
A court has warned against undertaking "cursory" safety inspections for height work, in finding a PCBU's WHS breaches, relating to a fatal fall, warranted a $500,000 penalty.
A tribunal full bench has rejected a worker's claim that a judge erroneously created his own theory about her illness, in her appeal against a ruling that her various work-related musculoskeletal injuries did not cause her to develop a movement disorder.
A local council failed to comply with its legislative duty to properly review an injured worker's medical records, or consult his doctor, when preparing a return-to-work plan for him, a tribunal has ruled.
A PCBU is installing a GPS tracking and vehicle immobilisation system to lock out unqualified crane operators, and training supervisors on geotechnical ground conditions, under a WHS undertaking involving a crane-toppling incident.
