Delivering a step change in safety management involves "slaying" the "sacred cows", like the assumption that change will leave an organisation legally compromised, according to the health and safety manager of one of Australia's largest utility companies.
A major employer has been found liable for a worker's psychological disorder, with a commissioner stressing that the tone and demeanour of managers will always be relevant when determining whether their actions were reasonable.
> Employer fined in latest action on coffee burns; > Labour-hire workers not properly trained; and > PCBU and directors fined for disregarding asbestos regulations.
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 business operator who failed to instruct workers on how to self-manage their work capacity in hot conditions has been fined over the heat stress death of a backpacker employee. Meanwhile, a company and one of its directors have been fined for failing to comply with or display a forklift-related prohibition notice.
In a case examining the discretionary powers of a relatively new anti-bullying jurisdiction, an employer has failed to block a worker's stop-bullying claim by contending he was medically incapable of returning to work under his supervisor, the alleged bully.
