Browsing: Workplace safety | Page 564

• NSW employers fined 5% of maximum WHS penalty;
  
• Employers fined over double fatality and drunken forklift incident; and
  
• Healthy ACT workplaces could win free advertising.

A company that created a "hidden danger" when it loaded a truck is more liable for a worker's serious injuries than the worker's employer, the NSW Court of Appeal has found in a $5.75 million damages case.

Two workers who were sacked for failing to identify a seriously damaged hoist rope during pre-start checks of a tower crane have been awarded compensation, even though their conduct could have had "catastrophic safety implications".

• Four individuals charged over forklift safety incidents;
  
• Employer enters undertaking after dangerous goods stolen; and
  
• Workers' comp lawyer told client to lodge anti-bullying claim.

A NSW employer is expanding its due diligence program for senior managers as part of a $200,000 WHS enforceable undertaking (EU), which provides valuable insight into the EU process and how the employer tackled height risks.

An employer that holds lunchtime yoga sessions, and encourages workers to volunteer for a community initiative during business hours, has reduced absenteeism and increased productivity.

Many Australian workers believe employers are 'letting them down' by not taking health and wellbeing seriously, while nearly one in four workers in some industries believe their jobs are making them ill, a new study has found.

• Exposure to vehicle exhaust damaging workers' DNA; and
  
• Fatality reports released as national work toll tops 135.

Employers are being reminded, on World Mental Health Day today, that they will receive an average return of $2.30 for every dollar they invest in workplace mental health initiatives, while those that do nothing are likely to have higher absence and claims rates.

A new Safe Work Australia report has found that regulators conducted 135,000 workplace visits and handed out nearly 47,000 notices in 2012-13, but the number of reactive visits is decreasing in some jurisdictions.