Browsing: WHS decisions (SA) | Page 11

A man who pretended to be a SafeWork SA inspector - possibly to advance his OHS business interests - has been convicted and fined for seven breaches of the WHS Act.

Two employers have been fined a total of $690,000 for serious safety incidents involving labour-hire companies, with one resulting in the death of a 15-year-old boy. In the other, a migrant worker sustained extensive burns after being told he had to use an online dictionary to translate his work instructions into his native Mandarin.

The safety company and engineer charged over the death of an eight-year-old girl at the Royal Adelaide Show in 2014 are the first parties to be charged with category 1 offences under the WHS Act in South Australia, and among the first in the country.

A company that failed to act on a risk assessment has been fined $111,000 after a worker's arm was amputated, while a restaurant has become the first entity to be convicted under section 33 of South Australia's mirror WHS Act.

An employer that responded to an identified hazard by replacing an engineering control with an administrative process has been fined for WHS breaches.

An employer has failed to convince the South Australian IRC that introducing a formal hazard identification and risk assessment process wouldn't have prevented a worker being crushed to death in plant.

An employer has been convicted for his "foolhardy in the extreme" approach to safety, after a young worker moved within two metres of overhead powerlines and suffered a life-threatening electric shock.

An employer has defeated two OHS charges, after a commission found a worker was injured while "acting contrary to clear, repeated and well-known directives".

The recent imprisonment of a South Australian company owner over the death of a worker is just one example of Australia's move towards adopting the global trend of holding individuals accountable for safety breaches, says Sparke Helmore Lawyers partner Luke Holland.

An employer has been fined less than three per cent of the maximum WHS penalty for a finger amputation, after a judge found it sought to improve safety through a "legislative compliance audit" before the incident, and had since taken significant steps to eliminate risks.