Browsing: WHS Harmonisation (National) | Page 8

• Class action demonstrates ongoing cost of safety breaches; and
  
• SWA releases long-awaited and revised WHS guides.

A not-for-profit organisation that assigns apprentices to host employers has become the first entity to be convicted for breaching the consultation provisions of the model WHS Act.

Company officers insured against WHS fines are more likely to be jailed for category 1 offences, with both regulators and judges now considering D&O policies when investigating or penalising parties, Clyde & Co lawyers have warned.

The 23 Codes of Practice underpinning the Commonwealth WHS Act have been revoked and remade as separate instruments with a range of technical amendments.

The recent conviction of a company director over a fatality places a "more onerous expectation" on officers than previously thought required under the due diligence provisions of the WHS Act, according to leading safety lawyer Michael Tooma.

• Australia crawls towards safer exposure standards;
  
• Regulator reveals strategies behind falling blood lead levels; and
  
• Fatality report and warnings released.

Safe Work Australia has published 10 guides and information sheets on managing the risks associated with the inspection, maintenance and operation of cranes, as well as plant that can be used as a crane and quick hitches for earthmoving machinery. It has also released a range of other documents.

The national model WHS laws are being amended to clarify the reach of provisional improvement notices (PINs), increase penalties for WHS entry breaches and reduce "unnecessary regulatory burden".

• ACTU calls for WHS Regs to be extended to offshore facilities;
  
• Second major workers' comp Bill passes in NT; and
  
• Fatality reports and alerts issued in three jurisdictions.

An employer has been handed the highest fine for a single safety offence in Australian history, in a case, according to the ACT Work Safety Commissioner, which shows judges will impose significant penalties, under the harmonised WHS Act, on those with poor safety records.