Browsing: WHS decisions (VIC) | Page 10

• WHS penalties promised for RCD blitz across all sectors; and
  
• $100k OHS fine imposed over patient's death.

A company that punished one of its health and safety representatives, for repeatedly raising safety concerns with a health and safety regulator, has been found guilty of and sentenced for OHS discrimination.

A coroner has recommended mandating the use of "secondary guarding technology" on all elevated work platforms (EWPs), following an inquiry into the death of a worker who was crushed between an EWP's guardrail and a roof truss.

A company has been granted permission to challenge a $237,000 damages award and ruling that it negligently contributed to a worker's injury, with an appeals court finding the trial judge failed to address the central issue of whether the worker was actually directed to perform the injury-causing task.

An employer that implemented stringent PPE requirements for a toxic substance, but then downgraded them, has been convicted over two exposure incidents, with a court finding its breaches would have attracted a $350,000 fine if it hadn't pleaded guilty.

A coronial inquiry has a found worker sustained fatal injuries after he inadvertently touched high-voltage powerlines with a tape measure from within a "no go zone", and examined engineering controls for preventing such incidents.

A company that failed to implement a proper inspection regime for the overhead cranes in a building it leased to a business has been fined for WHS breaches, after debris fell from one of the cranes and struck a worker. Another company has been fined for a string of safety and dangerous goods breaches identified by an investigation into a worker's serious burns.

A government department and a charity, which discouraged workers from seeking refuge in an office in violent situations, have been fined for workplace safety breaches after multiple workers were assaulted by a violent child. Both parties admitted the balance of care was "tilted too much in favour of the [child's] welfare".

With the seemingly low-risk task of mowing grass causing multiple workplace fatalities in Australia, a coronial inquiry into one of the deaths has called for ride-on mowers to be fitted with gradient alarms, and for a safety regulator to publicise the rollover risk of the machines.

One of the growing number of employers charged with COVID-related workplace health and safety breaches has been sentenced in Victoria. In Queensland, a PCBU has been fined after its failure to act on safety complaints led to a worker suffering serious wrist injuries.