A site supervisor has been fined for failing to act on an identified height risk, after a worker fell five metres, while an assessor has been fined for certifying applicants for high-risk work licences as competent after they failed their tests.
Standards Australia Ltd has defeated allegations that it misleadingly claimed a revised Standard for height work provides "greater safety to users" than the previous edition, in a case brought by an employer required to comply with the Standard.
An inquest has found that a 457-visa worker fell from scaffolding and drowned after he accidentally dislodged a load-bearing wedge while, according to one expert, performing "one of the most dangerous" scaffold tasks "I have ever witnessed".
An employer has been ordered to pay nearly $110,000 in fines and costs after one worker was injured by an improvised vehicle attachment, and another fell in a drain. Meanwhile, a packaging business has been fined for maintenance breaches after an employee was killed.
Two employers have been fined for WHS breaches after a worker was killed by a 345kg pole and a company director was filmed walking along a crane boom. Meanwhile, a court has rejected a company owner's appeal against his lengthy manslaughter sentence.
A judge has highlighted inconsistencies in a major employer's voluminous induction and training materials, in awarding a worker who fell off a "safety step" more than $1 million in damages.
A man has been convicted and fined $80,000 for WHS offences, after his failure to adopt identified safety controls led to a worker falling more than 10 metres and sustaining severe brain injuries.
