A coronial inquest into a young worker's death in a forklift crash has found his employer didn't have any written safety policies or enforce critical WHS rules, before appearing to defy WHS caselaw by concluding the business was not obligated to instruct the worker to wear his seatbelt or not perform unloading work on slopes.
Workers in the legal profession will reveal whether their employers are complying with their proactive duties to tackle bullying and harassment, under a follow-up equal opportunity review announced in South Australia. Meanwhile, safety professionals have been asked to apply to present on ideas for improving WHS outcomes in Tasmania.
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.
The operator of the inflatable jumping castle that six children were using when they sustained fatal injuries at the Hillcrest Primary School in Tasmania, in December 2021, has been charged with a mid-level WHS offence.
A major infrastructure project that provided onsite mental health counselling, and an airport that integrated its workplace safety, aviation and security requirements, are among the winners of the latest safety awards announced in two jurisdictions.
Significant amendments were made to workplace health and safety laws in every Australian jurisdiction in the third quarter of 2023, including many increasing penalties and making it easier to prosecute duty holders. This major report - the only one of its kind in the country - examines all the need-to-know legislative changes, workers' compensation developments and court decisions from July, August and September.
A WHS regulator's role of investigating and possibly laying charges in relation to the Hillcrest Primary School jumping castle tragedy, in which six children died, must prevail over the coronial function of considering recommendations to prevent similar incidents, a judge has ruled in restraining a coroner from accessing key documents.
In this major must-read report, OHS Alert examines all the key workplace health and safety and workers' compensation developments from the second quarter of 2023, including a wide range of actual and proposed WHS amendments, a string of high-profile safety prosecutions, and concerns around surging burnout rates.