In an important ruling on what constitutes financial hardship, a transport company director, who was convicted in a landmark case of failing to manage drivers' fatigue, has successfully argued he shouldn't pay the full costs of the prosecution.
NSW: Premier to clarify pub smoking restrictions; Victoria: Employer fined for failing to pay injured worker; New energy safety body takes over; WA: Supermarket fined over use of milk crates as a ladder; and National: Latest guides and safety alerts.
In two recent decisions, the NSW IRC has found a final warning was too harsh a penalty for a worker who breached standard operating procedure; and the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal has awarded compensation to a worker with Hepatitis C after a discriminatory redundancy process.
Three recent prosecutions in the NSW IRC in Court Session have dealt with: a transport company that failed to put in place a system for checking known equipment faults; a construction site foreman who failed to properly supervise subcontractors; and a recycling company that didn't guard a conveyor belt nip point.
National: Cole Bill amended, currently being debated; Multiplex installs heart defibrillators at all sites; Victoria: Better safety urged for "lollipop" workers; and WA: Forklift incident leads to $14,000 fine.
Proposed amendments to the Commonwealth OHS Act that are currently before Parliament might be unconstitutional and in breach of Australia's ILO obligations, according to an independent analysis of the Bill.
OHS academic Michael Quinlan has warned that NSW's long-haul transport regulations will "catch everyone" in the industry, and employers should start preparing now to ensure they comply by the time they take effect.
Maurice Blackburn Cashman is planning an appeal against a ruling that found Commonwealth employees working in Queensland do not have the same common law rights after work injuries as other workers in the State.
