Browsing: Workplace safety court and tribunal decisions | Page 232

A NSW employer and a director have been found guilty of failing to train a worker - who sustained serious burns - to safely handle chemicals, after a judge rejected their claim that this wasn't part of her duties.

• Another drum explosion, another safety conviction;
  
• WorkSafe releases gas-cylinder guidance and alerts; and
  
• NSW releases draft WHS Code on electrical risks in mines.

The NSW Court of Appeal has quashed a $926,000 damages award, in finding that a truck crash was caused by excessive speed, and that an employer that was sued over the incident had been entitled to rely on an expert contractor to safely load the vehicle.

A Western Australian employer has been fined over a crane collision that caused a contractor to suffer complete paraplegia, and that could have been prevented with a $2000 investment.

An employer has been convicted of OHS breaches after one of its supervisors identified a hazard but failed to tell anyone or implement control measures, and a worker was subsequently struck by falling coal and seriously injured.

A Western Australian mining company has successfully appealed a decision ordering its retrial over the death of a young worker at a workplace intersection.

NSW's mirror WHS Regulation has been amended to make it more consistent with the model Regulations, to give WorkCover the power to issue on-the-spot fines for certain asbestos-related offences, and to increase prescribed fees.

A national employer has been fined at the upper limit of a penalty range recommended by Comcare, after the Federal Court found it failed to act on a foreseeable and easy-to-fix forklift risk for nearly two months before a worker sustained serious head injuries.

• Director sentenced to home detention for NZ safety breach;
  
• Victorian individual fined after contractor burnt; and
  
• Safe Rates Tribunal launches two inquiries.

An employer has been found not guilty of failing to ensure the safety of three contractors, after the NSW District Court found it had adequate measures to control the risk of hazardous plant and materials.