Browsing: Workplace safety court and tribunal decisions | Page 198

Three Victorian companies and their directors could face maximum safety fines totalling $4.7 million, after being charged over an excavation collapse.

Ride-share company Uber acted reasonably when it deactivated a driver's account after passengers complained he nearly fell asleep at the wheel, a court has found in rejecting the driver's $500,000 damages claim.

A reasonable worker cannot be expected to know that a walkway is wet and slippery without specific signs alerting to the risk, even when it is obvious cleaning is underway, an appeal court has ruled in an indemnity dispute.

An employer breached its duty of care for a worker in failing to repair a leaky appliance or maintain a system for keeping the area around it dry, exposing him to a foreseeable risk of slipping, a court has found.

The construction watchdog has filed an appeal against a Federal Court ruling that union officials don't need entry permits to enter sites at the request of health and safety representatives.

An employer has defeated a worker's damages claim, with a court finding that extra training or improved safety systems would not have prevented the man from performing the minor repairs that caused his injury.

An employer that adopted a reactive approach to repairing faults, instead of a proactive system of inspection and maintenance, has been ordered to pay $688,000 in damages to a worker who tripped over a redundant floor fixture.

An employer that relied on a "specialised expert" contractor to ensure site safety has been convicted and fined $120,000, after a worker fell six metres, while the "more culpable" contractor has escaped conviction, entering an enforceable undertaking instead.

A major employer had a valid reason to sack a worker for answering a phone call while driving, despite the call being made by his manager, the Fair Work Commission has ruled.

Three Queensland employers have been fined a total of more than $500,000, after a cyclist was killed by a crane's unsecured stabiliser arm, a worker was fatally crushed against a stabiliser leg, and an inexperienced worker died in a quad bike crash.