Employers will be required to prepare a "silica hazard control statement" and obtain a special licence under proposed Victorian regulations affecting four sectors and 24 sub-industries. Meanwhile, tighter workplace exposure thresholds, including for diesel emissions, take effect in NSW next week.
In this major report, OHS Alert examines all the must-know work health and safety, workers' compensation and work-related COVID-19 developments from the fourth quarter of 2020, with highlights including a series of important legislative changes and near-record WHS fines.
OHS Alert is taking a break for a few weeks, and we're leaving you with a list of our most popular articles from the last 12 months - a list dominated by our leading stories on managing the work-related risks of COVID-19, and high-profile court cases.
A major retail company did not breach its duty to provide a manager with a healthy and safe environment free from harassment when his colleagues and a paid entertainer pressured him to sing and dance at a work conference, a court has ruled.
An employer that responded sluggishly to a series of improvement notices and then failed to preserve the scene of a serious incident, resulting in head-crush injuries, has been handed multiple workplace safety fines. Meanwhile, a WHS regulator has expressed disappointment at the results of a follow-up blitz.
Right-of-entry permit holders who fail to comply with a site's safety rules can be taken to have acted in an "improper manner" in breach of Fair Work laws, the Federal Court has ruled in a case against a CFMMEU organiser who refused to wear safety glasses and overalls.
Workers are often presented with conditions that encourage unsafe habits that willpower alone can't overcome, but employers can "hack the context", making good habits easier and tasks more practical, according to the health and safety manager of a peak business body.
Employers with outdoor workers or involved in industries like mining must identify potential emergency situations caused by severe weather or natural disasters, and should conduct seasonal risk assessments based on weather forecasts and local events, according to a WHS regulator.
