WHS inspectors will use body-worn cameras and work in pairs during certain workplace visits under a regulator's plan to discourage "bribery or attempts of persuasion by PCBUs".
> Free workplace toolkit tackles perinatal depression; > Health assessment breaches attract civil penalties; > RTW training modules released, while icare winners announced; and > Alerts issued in four states after fatality and other incidents.
Australia's highest work safety fine and the offence of workplace manslaughter are being introduced to the Victorian Parliament today. Meanwhile, regulators have issued a fatality alert and tips on working safely in heat and with elevating work platforms.
A major WHS audit, prompted by two scissor lift fatalities and a coronial inquest, has warned that introducing mobile plant to "reduce risk factors" can "present new ones", and outlined safety factors to consider when using elevating work platforms.
In this update, OHS Alert revisits all the important work health and safety and workers' compensation legislative changes from the third quarter of 2019. We also recap the most significant court and tribunal rulings and other developments from across the country.
A judge has highlighted four serious concerns with an employer's drug and alcohol policy, in ruling that an injured worker wasn't guilty of serious and wilful misconduct in refusing to undergo a urine test ahead of his return to work.
A worker bore the onus of proving his work-related knee injuries caused him to fall at home and dislocate his shoulder, but he failed to discharge his burden of proof, with his inconsistent memory of events suggesting he made them up, a judge has found.
> It's just not cricket: MCC guilty of traffic management breaches; > Employer convicted over pathway debris; and > WHS reviews urged after fatality, regulators issue alerts.
