Browsing: Legislation, regulation and caselaw | Page 543

A South Australian employer that failed to ensure a safety audit of its business covered a machine that was temporarily out of use has been fined $51,000, after a worker's fingers were severed.

The Fair Work Commission has described a union's defence of a worker who was sacked for a serious drug breach as "illogical", but stressed that dismissing workers shouldn't be the automatic response to failed workplace drug tests.

A Victorian worker who sued his parents after suffering a back injury while working at their tobacco farm has had his contributory-negligence calculation reduced from 70 to 20 per cent in the Supreme Court.

The chain of responsibility (CoR) provisions of the new national heavy vehicle safety laws could be expanded to capture employees, as well as managers who instruct consignors to order goods. Also in this article, Cootes Transport has been charged with 86 safety breaches.

Introduction date flagged for WHS Act for WA resources sector; Regulator launches plan to reduce deaths in NSW construction sector; New safety rules for material hoists begin in May; WorkSafe Victoria targeting town as part of statewide campaign; and Seafarers reminded of workers' comp requirement.

Fake safety inspectors threatened with $10k fines; More Cootes trucks grounded; Deaths of worker and cyclist prompt truck-safety warnings; and Farm fatality rate increases.

Bullied worker wins $500k in international dispute; and Company officer fined for exposing people to deadly bat virus in Queensland.

FIFO workers can manage fatigue and loneliness at remote sites by reducing their consumption of alcohol and energy drinks, and getting involved in local community activities, a new guidance note says.

Queensland health and safety reps will be forbidden from halting unsafe work, unions will be hobbled by tighter entry rules, and maximum fines for electrical safety breaches will be 650 per cent higher, under a Bill introduced to the Queensland Parliament yesterday.

In its first anti-bullying decisions, the Fair Work Commission has rejected two applications because the alleged bullying victims didn't pay their filing fees. Meanwhile, the Northern Territory has convicted 121 people under new laws aimed at protecting workers from violence.