Twenty WHS Codes of Practice have been updated in Queensland, while an amended Code for managing workplace electrical risks has been approved, and asbestos regulations have been changed.
> Customer's death costs employer $500k; > Labour-hire fines increase to $370k, as fatality alerts issued; and > Seventy-seven WHS notices issued in troubled suburb.
> Companies and directors fined $310k for labour-hire breaches; > Workers not informed of occupational violence risks; and > Workplace safety breach filmed by neighbour.
A PCBU that failed to implement a maintenance schedule for a crane or arrange its mandatory major inspection has been fined $135,000 over the death of a bystander. Meanwhile, a construction giant has been charged under the Commonwealth jurisdiction's WHS laws.
> Substandard electrical work created fatal risk, individual fined; > Workers' comp fraudster caught doing ride-share work; > Inspection launch highlights work-related COVID duties in Vic; and > New gas safety framework commences in Tas.
A court has blocked a regulatory directive banning the use of a worksite's mobile plant whenever the risk of lightning strikes reaches a certain level, after hearing the directive could create safety risks.
Another employer has been fined for WHS breaches that occurred on a troubled infrastructure project, while a work safety regulator has issued cyclone and respirator warnings.
An employer has failed in its bid to stay a WHS improvement notice, by claiming a safety inspector's limited enquires led to him relying on outdated documentation and proposing remedial measures that "were incapable of being complied with".
> COVID-19 vaccine advice for workplaces coming soon; > Two individuals and one PCBU charged over teenagers' deaths; and > Air-conditioning gas explodes in work vehicle.
Industrial manslaughter provisions should be amended in Queensland to ensure all companies that negligently cause a worker's death can be prosecuted, according to a major inquiry report that also makes important recommendations on safety metrics.
