Commonwealth to ban synthetic cannabis detected in workers; WorkSafe Victoria to target employers without workers' comp cover; and Western Australian employers fined for electricity and notice breaches.
In this update, OHS Alert outlines all the important OHS and workers' compensation legislative changes made in the second quarter of 2011. We also recap the most significant court and tribunal rulings and other developments in each jurisdiction.
Employers warned of height and storage dangers after deaths; Greens to push for automatic cancer compensation for firefighters; Western Australian employers fined for scaffold and guarding failures; and Essential safety news from around Australia.
A crane driver left tetraplegic after falling 1.5 metres to the ground has failed to prove his accident, which he cannot remember and no one saw, was caused by the negligence of any of the four companies operating at a Western Australian Goldfields site.
WorkSafe WA has announced it will no longer pursue charges laid against Laing O'Rourke and three other employers after Cyclone George, but says it will continue its case against Fortescue. Also in this article, WorkSafe WA inspectors have issued more than 200 notices in a two-week campaign.
Greens to push for union OHS prosecutions in all states; WorkSafe WA reports on fatality, fall-prevention fine and fatigue roadblock; and Essential safety news from around Australia.