"Discontinuity" between training and work site caused wharf death; Victorians fined over chemical spill, house collapse and neglected notice; Second safety trainer convicted over Northern Territory explosion; and Western Australian employer fined for unsafe maintenance work.
Fair Work Australia has dismissed an engineer's beard-related unfair dismissal claim after it found it was not unusual or unlawful to require employees to modify their appearance for OHS reasons. Also in this article, a Victorian worker who injured his back eight years ago has been granted leave to seek damages for a mental disorder.
WorkCover NSW and WorkSafe Victoria have clarified the alarming cost of workers' compensation claims for stress, industrial deafness and musculoskeletal disorders, and outlined what they plan to do to help employers reduce them.
In an important case, the Victorian Court of Appeal has quashed a $900,000 damages ruling, after it found an injured electrician who spent 60 per cent of his work week with the same employer was an independent contractor, and not an employee.
There is a shortage of safety inspectors in Western Australia and work-related injury and fatality rates could "continue to rise", a union has claimed following the recent spate of work deaths in the State, including one yesterday.
The Victorian Supreme Court has upheld the $180,000 fine imposed on Patrick Stevedoring after it became the first entity in the State to be convicted of OHS discrimination.
Employers in Victoria, Western Australia and any other jurisdiction that delays the implementation of harmonised OHS laws could still be obliged to comply with elements of the new legislation from January 2012, an OHS lawyer has warned.
Commonwealth passes harmonisation Bill; Police to "think twice" after workers' comp changes progress; New alert issued on OHS scams; and Employers plead guilty after guarding failure and truck fire.
Risk assessments must address the "imperfect" procedures of other organisations in the supply chain, and must not be viewed as an administrative burden, the Victorian Coroner has stressed in a report on a stevedore's death.
