Browsing: WHS decisions (TAS) | Page 3

• Coroner dismisses fatigue link to post-shift fatality; and
  
• Safest and healthiest employers announced in WA.

A series of geotechnical and risk assessments commissioned by a mine operator, before three workers were killed in a six-week period at the mine, appeared to be directly relevant to the circumstances of one of the fatalities and it would be "absurd" to prevent a coroner viewing them, an appeals court has ruled in a high-profile case.

A coronial inquest has found a worker's death could have been prevented by simple and inexpensive actions like proactively maintaining personal protective equipment, which, among other things, sends a clear message to workers on the importance of using PPE.

Workers should never under any circumstances be put in a position where they are the "first line of defence" against approaching vehicles, a coronial inquest into the death of a traffic controller has warned.

An experienced worker was killed after he and a supervisor came up with an alternative work plan that was "contrary to established principles of workplace risk management", and made the outcomes of that morning's safety meeting obsolete, a coronial inquest has found.

A coronial inquiry has found that a single moment of inattention from a highly experienced worker led to him being dragged into a machine and dying. Meanwhile, an individual has been fined after a worker was killed on a tractor with corroded rollover protection, and an employer has been fined for confined space breaches.

• VLC safety blitz pushes for national changes;
  
• Coroner makes workplace seatbelt recommendations;
  
• Develop safety plan and stick to it, harvesters told; and
  
• Regulator releases reports on carcinogens, noise and concussion.

A cost-saving measure and a supervisor's complacency contributed to a worker dying in a six-metre fall, while the lack of regulatory action in such cases could be encouraging poor safety cultures, a coronial inquest has found.

In a rare and important decision, a court has increased a Heavy Vehicle National Law fine four-fold after examining the severity of the safety breach and the legislative purpose of the scheme. Meanwhile, the regulator has launched a safety-breach hotline and the consultation process for a "master" chain-of-responsibility code.

A company that controlled a work site where three fatalities occurred within six weeks has successfully challenged the admissibility of components of an "expert's" report in a coronial inquest into the deaths.