Browsing: Work at heights | Page 59

Workplace falls were the main cause of fatalities in the construction industry over the 12 years to 2013-14, with falls from roofs and ladders causing more than half of the deaths, according to a new Safe Work Australia report.

• DuPont fined after four workers gassed to death in US;
  
• UK employer and individual fined over fatal fall; and
  
• Australian regulators issue fatality alerts.

Two Victorian employers accused of OHS breaches have committed to spending $570,000 on developing detailed safety guidance for the construction industry, funding safety research and other initiatives.

An employer has successfully appealed the severity of an OHS fine, as well as an order requiring it to advertise its breach in a major newspaper.

Three Victorian employers, including one whose informal traffic procedures caused a death, have been fined heavily for safety breaches.

A worker who fell to his death while performing an unfamiliar task while his director was away had been "left to his own devices" without a proper safety plan, the Victorian Coroner has found.

• Workers prosecuted for risking colleagues' safety;
  
• Employer fined after learner driver of faulty truck hits worker;
  
• Duty holders urged to ditch or modify unsafe quad bikes; and
  
• NSW and Qld issue chemical and fire alerts.

An employer unfairly sacked a worker for ignoring a supervisor and one of its golden safety rules, the Fair Work Commission has ruled in finding he didn't disobey instructions.

An employer that failed to train a young employee to work safely at heights, resulting in him falling nearly six metres through a roof, has been handed a low OHS fine because of its high debts.

Four companies have been ordered to pay a worker damages, after he was injured when he fell from an unfenced work platform, and sustained further injuries while travelling home from a related medical appointment.