A PCBU has been fined for failing to report a head knock to a regulator, while a worker who should have refused his employer's request to carry out unsafe work has been fined over a co-worker's injuries, and a man has been penalised for his "disgraceful" asbestos breaches.
A judge has increased an employer's WHS fine nearly three-fold on appeal, stressing that a worker's injury-causing "stupidity" occurred in the context of the employer's failure to separate pedestrians and mobile plant, and slamming a magistrate's "almost unintelligible" remarks on the matter.
A regulator has warned that union officials must hold valid right-of-entry permits when entering sites under provisions for "resolving" WHS matters, after the High Court blocked an appeal on the issue.
An employer has been found liable for a worker's psych injury because it "blindsided" him with a redundancy meeting shortly after he returned to work from long-term sick leave, during which he was induced to believe his job was secure.
* Workplace masks mandatory for "circuit breaker" lockdown; * Cash to oversee WHS again; and * Guide to electing HSRs for "multi-PCBU" groups released.
A commission has rejected a worker's claim she should not have been dismissed for punching a colleague in the face, shortly after her shift ended, because they were close friends discussing personal matters at the time of the altercation.
The Department of Defence has been fined $350,000 for failing to implement simple safety measures that could have prevented a worker's leg amputation, while a company has been fined $150,000 after a work vehicle with incorrect load-capacity signage crashed.
A manager's "overtly transactional" text message proposals and acts of withholding work to intimidate a worker into having s-x with him, meant going to work was "fraught with difficulty" for the worker and warranted police intervention, a commissioner has found.
Employers have been urged to boost their safety standards by maintaining a sense of "chronic unease", after a company and two individuals were convicted and fined over a young worker's death attributed to a workplace culture of complacency.
