Browsing: Workplace safety | Page 607

A South Australian employer that failed to ensure delivery drivers stood in safety zones while their vehicles were unloaded has been fined $80,000, after a truck driver was crushed by a 1.7-tonne machine, sustaining numerous debilitating injuries.

Federal Employment Minister Eric Abetz has hinted at what his approach to the WHS Act will be over the next three years, in citing - as an example of overregulation - a suggestion in the now-defunct bullying Code of Practice that employers put up anti-bullying posters in lunchrooms.

An operations manager who was sacked when he returned to work after the Christmas shutdown period - for breaching safety rules more than two months before - has had his unfair dismissal claim upheld.

With the NSW Police Force recently pleading guilty to OHS breaches after officers were exposed to hazardous substances, a former senior sergeant who nearly died from such exposure tells OHS Alert of the obstacles he has faced in trying to prevent the incident from recurring.

A Northern Territory worker who claimed he injured his back while lifting 91kg concrete caps has lost his damages bid, after the Supreme Court found his employer explicitly forbade such work, and surveillance footage contradicted his claims.

The life-span of the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal could prove very short, with Federal Employment Minister Eric Abetz announcing a review into whether it imposes "onerous and unnecessary compliance burdens" on employers.

The President of the Fair Work Commission has stressed that the new anti-bullying jurisdiction is not about penalising employers, in releasing two documents to help employers and workers know what to expect when it takes effect on 1 January.

A new report released in conjunction with national Go Home on Time Day - which is today - has found millions of Australian workers aren't taking regular lunch breaks or annual leave - and it's "making us sick".

A NSW support services provider that failed to assess whether a mentally ill client was violent has been fined $115,000 for OHS breaches, after a worker was murdered by the client during an unauthorised home visit.

The safety standards during the construction of Brisbane's Airport Link tunnel have been declared "deplorable", with one worker being killed, the joint-venture partners facing OHS prosecutions, one partner and another employer entering enforceable undertakings after other workers were injured, and 70 notices being issued by a regulator.