Five of the 13 entities charged over the New Zealand volcanic eruption that killed 22 tourists and workers in 2019 have been ordered to pay a total of $13 million in workplace safety fines and reparations, in a case providing a "catastrophic example" of what can happen when safety duties are ignored.
A PCBU has been handed a pre-discount fine of $200,000, after two people entered an explosion's exclusion zone, and one of them was forced to dive behind a vehicle to avoid flyrock.
A major study spanning the European Union has found the COVID-19 pandemic was a "formative event" for workers' mental health. It found many workers experienced increasing stress, mainly linked to two factors, and employers must continue to proactively monitor potentially health-damaging working conditions.
Two company managers' needless insistence that a union official clarify the particulars of his WHS entry permit was a "gossamer-thin" justification for delaying his safety inspection, a court has found in a scathing ruling reiterating the practical purpose of permits.
A COVID-19 vaccine mandate for frontline workers has been found to be unlawful, after a superior court heard the decision-maker did not attempt to quantify the supposed safety and productivity benefits of the mandate, or the consequences of not imposing one.
A Medibank trial giving workers "the gift" of time recouped from fewer meetings, more autonomy and saying no to less-value work, has decreased stress levels and significantly reduced sick leave in some workers, according to a senior executive.
A major review of a WHS regulator has been quickly followed by a highly critical audit, which found the regulator lacks effective strategies for dealing with emerging WHS threats, and took about eight years to "actively and sufficiently respond" to the dangers of engineered stone.