Browsing: Work at heights | Page 56

John Holland Pty Ltd has been fined for safety breaches for the second time in less than a month, giving it the dubious honour of being both the last entity prosecuted under the Commonwealth's old OHS Act, and the first prosecuted under the new one.

• Govt launches inquiry into "impact" of 13-day safety order;
  
• New workers' comp benefits commence in NSW;
  
• Injury rates falling but lost time increasing;
  
• Regulators issue concrete, grave and grinder alerts; and
  
• WA workplace safety awards open.

Two employers, including one that covered a dangerous ventilation shaft with a thin layer of concrete, have been ordered to pay a total of $235,000 in fines and costs, after workers sustained serious limb injuries. Meanwhile, another company has entered a $160,000 safety undertaking after a customer was injured.

Three of NSW's mirror WHS Codes of Practice have been updated, while a safety regulator has outlined how to prevent falls from mobile plant and vehicle collisions, following two serious mining incidents.

A husband and wife have been ordered to pay more than $1 million in damages to a friend who fell from a ladder while working on their roof. A supreme court judge found that while they didn't owe him a duty under work health and safety laws, they were still required to prescribe a safe system of work.

A NSW employer and its director have been fined more than $500,000 after a worker fell to his death through an unguarded penetration. The verdict came just weeks after the employer and a related company were fined $254,000 (with costs) for illegally dumping asbestos on the same site.

Fines imposed on two related companies after a worker was killed have been increased from a total of $450,000 to $1.5 million, with the Victorian Court of Appeal stressing that prosecutors aren't required to prove that a safety breach caused an incident.

An employer that trained workers in lock-out procedures and ladder safety, but failed to "monitor and enforce" what was taught, has been convicted of OHS breaches.

A company officer convicted over a near-fatal electric shock has unsuccessfully argued that he shouldn't be fined because the directors of two other culpable entities escaped prosecution.

• Injured worker denied costs for questionable "aids"; and
  
• Employer commits $100k to safety under EU.