Employers have been warned there are no excuses for allowing workers to risk their safety by clearing machinery that is not switched off, after a company was convicted over a young worker's injuries. Meanwhile, the employer of a worker killed by a runaway vehicle could be fined up to $9 million, after being charged with WHS offences.
An employer that relied on an administrative system to protect workers has been convicted and fined for WHS offences, after an apprentice fell four metres.
A workplace "exclusion zone" was established in a way that "invited" rather than deterred access to the area, and contributed to a work experience student's life-changing injuries, a court has found in convicting and fining a PCBU.
Two workers who bullied new employees made it "very difficult" for them to gain experience and posed a risk to their safety and welfare, but their employer should not have sought to force the bullies to resign by ignoring their text messages, a commission has found.
WHS offences with long jail terms have a direct impact on decision makers and force them to turn their minds to the best available protections for workers, a union secretary says. But an industry representative has claimed that "penalties don't save lives".
A regulator has warned workplace leaders that they have a duty to "live and breathe" their anti-bullying policies, after securing its second reckless conduct conviction involving a life-threatening attack on an apprentice.
A PCBU completely reviewed its working-at-heights procedures after a work crew disregarded its safe work policy on wearing fall arresters and harnesses, a tribunal has heard in convicting the PCBU.
An employer has been convicted and fined $225,000 after an unsupervised crew took on an unfamiliar task, and one worker sustained debilitating injuries.
A PCBU that failed to comply with guidelines for mobile work platforms has been ordered to pay more than $500,000 in fines and reparations, after a worker was paralysed from the neck down, while a former professional rugby player has been convicted for pressuring an injured worker to lie to safety inspectors.
An appeals court has upheld a $720,000 damages award to a worker who was reluctant to report his injury and a serious safety breach because of his junior position with a major company.
