A man has been ordered to stand trial for the industrial manslaughter of a worker who fell through an unguarded penetration, while employers have been urged to assess and control the risks associated with the potentially deadly disease melioidosis, after a work-related case was recorded.
A local council has been fined over a lifeguard's electrical burns, in a case demonstrating that the risks and duties around overhead powerlines aren't limited to those in industries like construction and agriculture. Another employer has been fined over a WHS offence lasting 18 months.
Australian researchers have found the rate of same-level falls in workplaces is set to surge among a major group of workers, and urged employers to implement tailored interventions, including for remote-work arrangements.
Three companies and a supervisor have been fined a total of more than $2.1 million over two serious mine safety incidents, including one where the supervisor removed warning signs from a hazardous area just moments before a worker was killed there.
A magistrate has slammed a company's "casual approach" to WHS, which "fell well below the standards required" of it, finding a worker would have been conscious of and avoided placing himself in a hazardous position if proper systems had been implemented.
A site's principal contractor has been ordered to pay damages to another company's director who sustained serious injuries falling through a void he knew was not properly protected. A judge found the principal was obligated to guard against unsafe acts of temporary inadvertence or inattention.
Two PCBUs have been convicted and fined a total of more than $530,000 for multiple WHS contraventions, after a heavy object fell and smashed a glass atrium roof, seriously injuring a site worker and a passing courier.
A principal contractor that failed to adhere to its own safety inspection regime, when unscheduled out-of-sequence work was carried out, has been fined $412,500 after a worker was left with devastating injuries.
Employers have been urged to identify all powerlines at their workplaces, including around entry and exit points, after a company was convicted and fined over an electrocution. Employers have also been warned about the presence of asbestos in workplace fire doors, following exposure incidents.