This article examines all the must-know workplace safety, workers' compensation and COVID-19 developments from July, August and September 2020, with highlights including a new WHS Code for the pandemic, the Dreamworld judgment, a record double-fatality fine and gross negligence cases.
> West Gate Bridge anniversary sends work safety message; > PCBU failed to enforce exclusion zones; and > Safety blitz moves to next Canberra suburb, issues 31 notices.
A company and its director have been handed maximum OHS penalties, totalling more than $466,000, after a truck with poorly maintained brakes crashed and killed its young driver, while a safety regulator has issued a string of notices in the latest phase of its Canberra blitz.
A worker has failed to convince a commission his acts of road rage and dangerous driving were "proportionate" to the unsafe situation he was forced to react to and didn't warrant his dismissal.
A ruling allowing an injured worker to pursue damages in a jurisdiction with unfettered common law rights has been overturned on appeal, in an important judgment on state-of-connection tests.
> John Holland charged with category-2 WHS breach; > Multiple electrical cases being referred to WHS Prosecutor; and > One WHS prohibition notice closes 13 sites.
WHS entry permit holders are permitted, from today, to photograph or film suspected safety contraventions at ACT workplaces, under a Bill that also adopts $500,000 "prohibited asbestos" fines and amends workers' compensation laws.
A business owner has been handed a $532,000 injury damages bill, after a superior court found he was vicariously liable for an inexperienced worker incorrectly manipulating a crane's controls and knocking over a colleague.
