An employer has been fined $800,000 for WHS breaches, after a designated work site migrated onto a dangerous stretch of road and a worker was killed by a vehicle driven by a colleague.
A union and one of its officials have been handed fines totalling nearly $37,000, after a court found the latter made a frustrated comment that constituted a threat to the future career of a workplace health and safety manager.
All work processes where workers might be exposed to respirable silica will be considered high risk and subjected to tougher WHS regulations unless risk assessments prove otherwise, under one of a string of changes agreed by Australia's WHS ministers.
An appeals court has quashed a ruling that the WHS prosecution of a major company was invalid because of the process used to delegate the applicable regulatory powers. Meanwhile, a play centre has been charged with multiple safety breaches after a child fell seven metres.
A worker who claimed repeated safety incidents and near misses caused his psychological injury has been denied compensation, with a judge finding a number of his concerns were "misplaced" and reasonable administrative actions taken by his employer were the predominant causes of his condition.
A major work health and safety Bill has passed in Queensland, with amendments aimed at facilitating a plan that could extend industrial manslaughter provisions to bystander deaths, and ensure multiple duty holders can be charged with manslaughter after a fatality.
A PCBU has successfully paused the operation of a WHS notice by arguing such a step will not affect the safety of workers or others, and that in the absence of a stay, it could be forced to overhaul its safety management system unnecessarily.
A worker who claims his schizophrenia was exacerbated by workplace bullying and harassment has been denied compensation, with a commission accepting the exacerbation was probably caused by a medical error.
Some high physical and mental workloads can be unmodifiable and lead to poor health outcomes, but altering direct and indirect factors can influence a worker's perception of their workload, facilitating their wellbeing, researchers say.