Browsing: WHS legislation, regulations, standards and codes (National) | Page 39

Depression-related absences hidden from employers; Presumptive workers' comp laws pass in WA; Future of heavy vehicle safety laws determined tomorrow; and ABCC-restoration Bill introduced.

Queensland's OHS regulator has been advised by the Coroner to introduce safety regulations for the hazardous house-removal industry within a year, after a young worker was fatally crushed beneath a house on his second day on the job.

Employers will only incur significant costs from complying with new Codes of Practice if they aren't complying with existing safety laws, Safe Work Australia says in a consultation regulation impact statement for the draft model stevedoring Code.

Safe Work Australia has confirmed it will almost certainly dump the model Code of Practice on workplace bullying in favour of a guide, but prominent safety lawyer Barry Sherriff notes that under the WHS Act, a guide has a similar evidentiary status, in practice, as a Code.

Employers in the road transport sector could be required to inspect vehicle brake pads weekly, under one of 25 recommendations made by a coronial investigation into Victoria's Kerang train disaster and other level-crossing fatalities.

SWA issues musculoskeletal warning and revised Codes; Qld employers relieved by workers' comp change; and Safety inspectors to target ACT hospitality sector.

Every year thousands of Australians die from work-related injuries and diseases, while hundreds of thousands are injured, but only 417 employers were prosecuted for OHS breaches in 2011-12, showing safety regulations should be strengthened, not weakened, the ACTU says.

Employers in Queensland - and perhaps the rest of Australia - that are willing to cut corners on safety to save money, will be able to "cover up dangerous practices" under a plan to amend the right-of-entry provisions of the WHS Act, unions have warned.

WHS Act requires workers to be consulted during organisational change; and SWA releases revised Code, mesothelioma toll and safety-month app.

With CFOs and other senior accountants being "very squarely labelled" as company officers under the model WHS Act, employers should ensure their accountants recognise the effect their decisions have on workplace health and safety, according to a corporate governance researcher.