In the latest of a recent series of WHS prosecutions involving failures affecting vulnerable people like children, a teacher based in another country has been sentenced over the deaths of two teenage students in Australia.
A PCBU has lost its last-resort bid to block its WHS prosecution over the drowning deaths of a father and son, with a superior court describing its latest jurisdictional challenge as an "unacceptable fragmentation of the criminal proceeding".
A crane operator who failed to maintain a line of sight with a pedestrian colleague has been fined over the man's death. A PCBU and a manager have been charged with the industrial manslaughter of the colleague.
The final quarter of 2023 was marked by wholesale WHS changes affecting all duty holders. This report examines the amendments, as well as changes to other laws and all the need-to-know caselaw from the period.
A local council has been fined over a lifeguard's electrical burns, in a case demonstrating that the risks and duties around overhead powerlines aren't limited to those in industries like construction and agriculture. Another employer has been fined over a WHS offence lasting 18 months.
A major organisation partly run by BHP has been fined $120,000 for undermining safety protections, and ordered to pay compensation to labour-hire personnel who were targeted after exercising their workplace rights over a dimly lit area and lightning storms.