In this latest edition of our long-running quarterly update series, OHS Alert reviews all the key WHS news from the first three months of 2020, including everything you need to know on the COVID-19 pandemic, the findings on Dreamworld's dismal safety systems, caselaw from all jurisdictions, and legislative changes.
A PCBU and its director have been fined a total of $385,000, and handed training orders, after a worker was killed by an unsecured hose, with a court finding the director failed to ensure his company had the necessary resources to comply with WHS laws.
A PCBU's new "positive investigation methodology", being rolled out under a $1.5 million rectification and undertaking package, will better engage workers in safety probes and strengthen incident prevention, the company claims.
A worker's act of using a mobile phone in a stationary vehicle was a "bad look" and contravened road rules, but didn't constitute a major safety breach, a commission has ruled. Meanwhile, a safety regulator has urged employers to review their phone usage policies, after two vehicles collided.
Coronavirus controls and restrictions have been stepped up across the country, with exemptions for certain workplaces and workers, while the ACTU's "name and fame" list of businesses providing special paid sick leave to staff is rapidly growing.
An employer has been convicted for failing to take measures against workers being injured in the "shadow" zone of falling objects, after a worker was crushed by a 400kg steel coil.
A PCBU has been convicted and fined after its work caused a building façade to collapse and materials, scaffolding and powerlines to fall on a major road, at a site where qualified supervisors were absent.
