Supervisors must not underestimate the importance of restrictions placed on workers with injuries, the Victorian Supreme Court has stressed, after a labour-hire worker aggravated a back injury when he was instructed by his supervisor to lift heavy boxes.
Origin Energy filmed workers undertaking hazardous manual tasks as part of a safety initiative that has all but eliminated incidents in its LPG business, according to its senior HSE advisor.
A safety campaign that was guided by more than 1200 ideas provided by workers, was just one of the initiatives used by Wesfarmers Ltd businesses in 2011/12 to reduce their LTIFRs.
A worker who developed chronic back pain and depression after lifting a box at work - without bending her knees - has been awarded more than $1.3 million in damages in the ACT Supreme Court.
In a case that examines the definition of heavy lifting, a Queensland worker who claimed repetitive lifting caused her back injury has been denied ongoing workers' compensation.
A South Australian employer, which accused an injured worker of not using his "common sense", has lost its appeal against a $356,000 damages bill in the full Supreme Court.
A Queensland employer has escaped a $180,000 "special vulnerability" bill, after the Supreme Court found there was no reason the company should have known about a worker's history of pain.
