An employer has failed to convince a superior court a worker was not "forced" to undertake a risky activity and negligently failed to refuse to perform it.
Safety regulations for exclusion zones and equipment in the construction industry could be overhauled under recommendations from an inquest into a young worker's death, which led to the first reckless conduct charges under Australia's harmonised WHS laws.
In sentencing a PCBU for multiple breaches of WHS regulations, a judge has suggested that prosecutors detail the costs saved by companies by ignoring their duties, so that courts can set fines that adequately deter such offending.
A confined-space worker who wasn't provided with flame-resistant PPE or adequate training on how to deal with a fire has been awarded more than $700,000 in damages.
An employer did not have a common law duty to warn a well-trained worker of all the circumstances in which a work method could not be used, an appeals court has found in dismissing the injured man's damages claim.
A young worker has been awarded more than $500,000 in damages after her employer negligently caused her to sustain an injury that did not prevent her from "engaging in a superficially normal life", but impeded her studies and narrowed her employment options.
The fact that a major employer was one of several PCBUs at a hazardous site did not make it responsible for the performance of all the duties set out in the WHS Regulation for that site, a superior court has ruled in rejecting a worker's damages claim.
A reasonable person in a major employer's position would have foreseen that workers would adopt timesaving and dangerous methods of performing a repetitive task, an appeals court has ruled in upholding a $1 million damages award.
A superior court has quashed a finding that a business was negligent in failing to turn its mind to the possibility that lighting levels on a set of stairs didn't comply with the relevant Australian Standard.
The recent WHS conviction of a company officer drives home the importance of establishing due diligence plans and governance structures for senior management, Ashurst partner Trent Sebbens says in this comprehensive Q&A with OHS Alert.
