Browsing: Legislation, regulation and caselaw | Page 508

In this update, OHS Alert examines the most important workplace safety and workers' comp news from the third quarter of 2014, including Safe Work Australia's controversial decision to dump draft Codes of Practice in favour of guidance packages, and other legislative developments.

• NSW Bill clarifies link between WHS Act and mining laws;
  
• NSW response to bullying inquiry quiet on proposed legislation; and
  
• BHPB appeals against $2.2m asbestos payout.

Proposed laws for protecting NSW public servants, and others excluded from the Fair Work Act's anti-bullying provisions, should complement the Commonwealth legislation and be overseen by the State IRC, according to State Greens MP David Shoebridge.

• Change in work hours caused compensable psych injury; and
  
• Premium cuts in SA unlikely without proposed reforms.

A Supreme Court judge has rejected an employer's claim that a 67-year-old injured worker's weekly benefits couldn't be "continued" because he applied for a continuation after his payments ceased.

• NSW employers fined 5% of maximum WHS penalty;
  
• Employers fined over double fatality and drunken forklift incident; and
  
• Healthy ACT workplaces could win free advertising.

A company that created a "hidden danger" when it loaded a truck is more liable for a worker's serious injuries than the worker's employer, the NSW Court of Appeal has found in a $5.75 million damages case.

• Four individuals charged over forklift safety incidents;
  
• Employer enters undertaking after dangerous goods stolen; and
  
• Workers' comp lawyer told client to lodge anti-bullying claim.

A worker who witnessed suicides and other distressing incidents during his employment is likely to be awarded lump sum compensation for PTSD, after the NSW WCC rejected his employer's claim that the condition was secondary to an arm injury.

A NSW employer is expanding its due diligence program for senior managers as part of a $200,000 WHS enforceable undertaking (EU), which provides valuable insight into the EU process and how the employer tackled height risks.