Browsing: WHS decisions (QLD) | Page 34

A worker who was struck in the head by a falling object has been awarded $327,000 in damages, after a court found her brain injury prevented her from seeking her dream job.

The Queensland Coroner has, in an inquest into a worker's death, called for employers to treat workers as casualties as soon as they're affected by heat, criticised "buddy" systems, and said he was "startled" to discover that there was no construction-industry standard relating to high temperatures.

A union has been denied a declaration that proposed changes to a major workplace's drug testing regime were defeated in a ballot, with a Queensland judge finding that the 257 workers who neglected to vote on the changes couldn't be regarded as disagreeing with them.

A worker has been refused $290,000 in damages for a back injury, but a supreme court judge found her employer did negligently expose her and others to a building's unsafe access point.

A court has upheld fatality-related OHS charges against an employer and three company officers, including an executive whose tenure ended four months before the fatality occurred.

An employer has been refused permission to amend its fatigue management procedures to reduce the number of rest breaks per shift, because it failed to obtain unanimous agreement from a cross-section of workers.

An employer has been ordered to pay damages to a worker who injured his back while trying to keep up with an unreasonably fast production line.

A coronial non-inquest into a double fatality, which resulted in a record $650,000 OHS fine, has identified a range of factors that contributed to the incident, including "tick and flick" service checks and poor communication between work groups.

A worker has successfully appealed against an OHS conviction, with the Queensland Industrial Court finding there was no evidence he failed to comply with a safety management plan, or that the relevant "operating plant" even had one.

A major employer has failed to overturn a finding that an injured worker's health assessment should only apply to his current restricted role. In another case, a commissioner has found a worker was unfairly sacked after threatening to "go postal".