Browsing: Right of entry

The fines imposed on a union organiser and his organisation after the official refused to wear safety gear at a site, and "pushed" a manager, have been slashed on appeal, with a full Federal Court finding a regulator "prosecuted a factually confused case".

Two companies have been charged, within a matter of days, in relation to separate but very similar fatalities involving shipping containers and stone slabs. Meanwhile, a union official has been accused of unlawfully ignoring a workplace's COVID-19 rules and safety signage.

In the latest major case on a WHS provision for "resolving" disputes, a union and eight of its officials have been fined for right-of-entry breaches at an incident-strewn infrastructure project.

• Major safety Bill passes without photograph amendments; and
  
• SWA and regulator tackle deadly risk with WHS guide and alert.

In one of two important judgments involving a long-running battle between an employer and a union, an appeals court has warned that a trespass finding against four WHS entry permit holders could have encouraged workplaces to deliberately obstruct such officials, hindering the objectives of safety laws.

An entry permit holder's compliance with a site's directions and requests serves its own critical safety function, the Federal Court has stressed in imposing record entry fines on a union and six officials.

An employer that failed to implement a safe system for inflating tyres has been fined $200,000, after a worker was killed in a "percussive pressure" incident. Meanwhile, a company and its director have been sentenced for repeatedly refusing to allow WHS inspectors to enter a workplace.

• Workplace vehicle safety hinges on "heightened awareness"; and
  
• WHS entry guidance released in SA.

• Workplace safety regulator issues beard warning; and
  
• Union and officials accused of safety and social distancing breaches.

A regulator has warned that union officials must hold valid right-of-entry permits when entering sites under provisions for "resolving" WHS matters, after the High Court blocked an appeal on the issue.