> Presumptive PTSD compensation introduced in second state; > National transport safety amendments made, and proposed; and > Four sets of electricity and rail safety regulations commence in Vic.
A superior court has ruled out a worker's difficult and demanding role and ongoing issues with a supervisor's management style as causes of her debilitating psychological injury, but upheld her appeal against an assault finding.
Workers' comp claims agents have taken steps to conceal rather than eliminate unethical practices identified in a damning 2016 report, the Victorian Ombudsman has found. The five agents cherry-pick evidence to reject complex claims and intrusively surveil injured workers "without a shred of evidence to justify it", she found.
A major employer has committed $364,200 to developing an industry safety standard after a worker's fingers were degloved in a tag-out incident. Meanwhile, an employer has been fined for safety breaches secretly filmed by an employee.
Thousands of asbestos-containing materials are still in place in workplaces and homes and employers that disregard the deadly hazard are being targeted, according to warnings issued for national Asbestos Awareness Week this week. Meanwhile, the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency's functions are likely to be expanded under the recommendations of a statutory review tabled in Parliament today.
Victoria has become the third Australian jurisdiction to enshrine the offence of industrial manslaughter in law, with an Amendment Bill (and the country's highest work health and safety fine) passing Parliament without any changes yesterday.
An Australian project involving wearable sensors has found certain common manual handling tasks in the healthcare sector are far more hazardous than previously thought, and identified cost-effective ways to control the risks.
Employers that don't do enough to protect the health and safety of either workers or the community, or to address the risks posed by external sources like bushfires, have been put on notice, after Hazelwood Power Corporation Pty Ltd was found guilty of 10 OHS charges.
> Workplace manslaughter and "crime scene" package launched; > Fatigue tests trialled as truck fatalities surge; and > PCBU and director charged over apprentice's electrocution.
