Browsing: Workplace safety court and tribunal decisions | Page 1

• Workplace safety prosecution follows Gumtree death;
  
• Major workers' comp report examines evolving schemes; and
  
• Quarterly report released.

A WHS prosecutor has successfully argued that the failure of workers to abide by safety procedures should not have influenced a sentencing magistrate to impose a low penalty in a case involving a six-metre fall.

• Fatality prosecution highlights electrical testing duties; and
  
• New duties for PCBUs flagged for NT electrical safety laws.

A worker's failure to disclose to his employer that he had a longstanding physical limitation, and was suing the UK's National Health Service for causing the condition, constituted a breach of his duties under safety laws and provided a sound reason for his dismissal, a commission has found.

In a case examining PCBUs' disclosure obligations, a tribunal has rejected a request for risk assessments and other documents by four workers, who claimed they were the victims of WHS discrimination relating to their employer's COVID-19 vaccination policy.

A man has been convicted and fined for his role in a workplace safety incident, which was linked to his reliance on verbal rather than physical controls and led to a labourer being struck by a swinging crane load.

An injured worker has failed in his appeal for damages, unsuccessfully contending his employer had a duty to warn him to keep his hands free so he could use a handrail on a set of "inherently dangerous" steps.

A court has convicted and fined an employer $450,000 for failing to provide a safe workplace, resulting in an "entirely foreseeable" death, and reminded companies that safety laws require them to proactively prevent and address safety risks, rather than waiting for near misses to alert them to dangers.

Suspended Sydney Flames basketball coach Shane Heal's failed claim that he was targeted for exercising workplace rights has highlighted the factors that constitute a safety complaint under employment law.

Reporting a safety incident is as important as the incident itself, a commission has reaffirmed in ordering the reinstatement of a worker sacked for failing to report an allegedly unsafe driving incident. His failure to report was mitigated by the fact that his supervisor witnessed and recorded the event, the commission found.