Browsing: Supervision | Page 7

A PCBU has been handed a pre-discount WHS fine of $600,000, after a worker suffered fatal head injuries in an incident involving an unsafely modified work box and a forklift operated by an inexperienced apprentice.

The mother of a young worker impaled on a steel rod has been awarded more than $200,000 for post-traumatic stress linked to the incident, while her son has been awarded $520,000, and two negligent companies have been ordered to foot most of the bill.

A commissioner has upheld the sacking of a supervisor who failed to investigate reports that a subordinate was breaching conduct and safety policies by regularly s-xually harassing co-workers by rubbing his genitals at work.

Employers have been told to map out and prevent access to workplace water hazards, after a local council was successfully prosecuted over the drowning death of a child. Another employer has been penalised for failing to respond to a near miss by ensuring workers wore personal protective equipment.

Many workers are subjected to threatened or actual physical violence on the job, and failing to provide them with long-term social support at work can negate the impact of immediate interventions, dramatically increasing their risk of depression and other disorders, European researchers have found.

An employer that responded to a complaint about the tone of a worker's emails by levelling a string of accusations against him has failed to prove his psychological injury arose from reasonable disciplinary action.

Employers could face increasing regulatory scrutiny where workplace fatalities or serious injuries occur, with a union pressuring government ministers to "get serious" about safety prosecutions. Meanwhile, a workplace supervisor has been fined over an induction incident.

An Australian Border Force worker's bid for compensation for depression and anxiety has been rejected, with a tribunal highlighting the traumatic circumstances of her personal life. It also found her inexperience impaired her ability to accept reasonable supervision.

An analysis of a manufacturing disaster that killed five workers has shown how "human factors can contribute to a sequence of events that lead to a major incident", and what employers can do to curb this.

A PCBU has been fined $134,000, and it two directors $33,000 each, for failing to "comply with their basic obligations", after a young worker was pinned under 1.2 tonnes of steel sheets when parts of a structure collapsed.