Tackling Australia's high workplace fatality rate hinges on proactively enforcing officers' due diligence obligations and improving the quality of investigations, according to leading health and safety lawyer Michael Tooma, who warns that industrial manslaughter provisions could drive negative behaviour.
The powers of health and safety reps in one of Australia's most hazardous sectors must be stepped up and aligned with those in the model WHS Act to combat a "culture of fear and reprisal", an inquiry has found. However, Government members of the inquiry warn against harmonisation "simply for the sake of consistency".
The model WHS laws could be amended to increase the focus on psychological health, with the public consultation process for the ongoing review of the laws identifying widespread concerns over this issue and the absence of a "notification trigger" for psychological injuries.
A High Court full bench has reserved its decision on whether the harmonised WHS laws operate in conjunction with other legislation, like civil aviation laws, which previously "covered the field".
What are best practice PCBUs and their officers doing to comply with their due diligence duties? And what WHS issues should the officers of white-collar organisations be focusing on? Senior WHS and employment lawyer Trent Sebbens explains in this Q&A with OHS Alert.
Safe Work Australia will assess the possible impact of a state anti-corruption inquiry on the national review of the model WHS Act after the scope of the inquiry is revealed, it says. The agency has also added 755 chemicals to the HCIS, while a government-appointed panel has found little evidence that PFAS substances cause cancer.
The High Court will determine whether the harmonised WHS laws extend to all workplaces and operate in conjunction with other legislation that previously "covered the field", after granting a regulator special leave to appeal against the quashing of fatality-related charges.
Page 5 of 22 | Total articles: 217
