Browsing: WHS decisions (National) | Page 8

A commission has called out a major employer's "troubling" reliance on its customer violence de-escalation policies in dismissing a worker drawn into a scuffle with a member of the public, finding the strategy's core aspects "simply did not apply" to the incident that unfolded.

An employer is being forced to re-defend its training and safety systems, and to prove it was entitled to rely on a worker to identify safety hazards that required him to seek help, under a retrial ordered in relation to an unrestrained load falling out of a trailer.

A worker has been granted interim stop-bullying orders creating communication restrictions and blocking disciplinary actions against her, with a commissioner expressing "genuine concern" for her safety in the absence of orders.

A company has been fined $1.2 million for dozens of breaches of the Heavy Vehicle National Law, after it was found to have "encouraged" drivers, through its remuneration structure, to disregard their fatigue obligations nearly 200 times in a five-week period.

A commission full bench has upheld a ruling that a manager responsible for communicating drug safety messages to staff - in a hazardous industry - was rightly dismissed for failing to disclose he had been charged with possessing a commercial quantity of cannabis.

A major NSW employer beached Commonwealth anti-discrimination laws by sacking a worker with ADHD because of her disabilities, a Federal judge has found, rejecting the employer's claim that the termination was triggered by serious safety concerns and the worker's "dishonesty".

A full Federal Court has given a safety-critical worker - who was sacked for drink driving on his day off, and whose case was blocked by his alleged misconduct after he was charged - another opportunity to prove his dismissal was unfair.

A worker's numerous and exaggerated reports on his co-workers' conduct, including unfounded suggestions that some were impaired by drugs, alcohol or mental illness, created psychosocial safety risks and justified his dismissal, a commission has found.

• Lendlease fined over exclusion-zone failure;
  
• Early planning and consultation urged after crane fatality; and
  
• Injury premiums up again in Qld.

A union's safety concerns over an employer's attempt to make pre-shift meetings more efficient by moving them nearly a kilometre underground have been deemed "speculative" by a commission, which has also issued a WHS order to the employer.