A major employer that was aware of a worker's psychiatric vulnerability, but left her under the supervision of an abrasive manager, has been ordered to pay her $625,345 in damages.
A coronial inquest into the death of a worker has recommended a seven-part safe system of work for mobile plant. Meanwhile, another coronial inquiry has warned against developing a cavalier approach to workplace safety over time, after a blasting fatality.
Two employers have been fined, while another company and a manager have been charged, after a worker was scalped and another sustained serious burns in an explosion. Meanwhile, a regulator has called for employers to prioritise safety, after Victoria experienced its worst year for fatalities in nearly a decade.
Toll Transport Pty Ltd has been handed one of the highest safety fines in Australian history, and the highest for a single OHS offence in Victoria, after a stevedore was run over and killed in the absence of a spotter.
The construction watchdog has filed an appeal against a Federal Court ruling that union officials don't need entry permits to enter sites at the request of health and safety representatives.
An employer that adopted a reactive approach to repairing faults, instead of a proactive system of inspection and maintenance, has been ordered to pay $688,000 in damages to a worker who tripped over a redundant floor fixture.
An employer's OHS fine has been increased more than seven-fold, on appeal, after a court found its failure to ensure workers adhered to a traffic management plan could have killed a truck driver.
An employer that was recently penalised for forcing a victim of domestic violence to resign has now been fined nearly $150,000 (including costs) for seven OHS breaches, including failing to provide clean drinking water. Meanwhile, a business owner has been fined for abusing a WHS inspector.
