Browsing: Workplace safety court and tribunal decisions | Page 210

A coronial inquiry into the deaths of two train drivers has examined the phenomenon of "inattentional blindness", where a person doesn't notice a fully-visible but unexpected hazard because their attention is engaged by another task.

• Employer fined $240k over drum explosion; and
  
• Dangerous goods updates from across the country and overseas.

The dismissal of a worker, for using his mobile phone to play music while driving, was harsh because his employer's safety policy for phones was unclear on the use of "broadcasting devices", the Fair Work Commission has found.

An employer that failed to provide a forklift without blind spots has been fined over a fatality. Meanwhile, another employer has been fined for maintenance breaches resulting in a death, and a construction company has been convicted of ignoring prohibition notices.

A court has examined the meaning of obvious risk, in awarding nearly $320,000 in damages to a worker who tripped on a large metal box.

• Recruiter forum identifies WHS knowledge gap; and
  
• Labour-hire worker fined for ignoring SWMS.

The Fair Work Commission has upheld the dismissal of a worker who broke a "must do" rule - in failing to look out for or maintain radio contact with other vehicles - before reversing his dozer into the path of a 500-tonne haul truck.

John Holland Pty Ltd has been fined $170,000 over a fatality on the notorious Brisbane Airport Link project, in Comcare's last prosecution under pre-harmonisation OHS laws with low maximum penalties.

An IR commission has identified a "conundrum" in the WHS provisions on work groups and health and safety reps, in granting a worker leave to intervene in an ongoing dispute.

A worker who left a 1.4-tonne load attached to a crane for two days deserved to be dismissed because he consciously parked the crane in an unsafe position and had recently undergone refresher training on the correct procedure, the Fair Work Commission has found.