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Three employers have been fined a total of more than $300,000 for height and access breaches, including in one case that shows a simple slip can have a devastating impact on workers and expose duty holders to prosecution.
The Federal Court has rejected a claim that unions don't need entry permits to enter sites to attend "discussions" on safety issues under the dispute resolution provisions of WHS laws.
The Federal Court has refused to restrain the operation of a new WHS rule requiring workers to undergo face to face rather than online induction training, which was introduced with the aim of improving workplace safety and cracking down on fraud.
An injured worker has been awarded nearly $500,000 in damages, after a court found his employer's decision to reposition lifting equipment required him to exert dangerous levels of force to move it.
A WHS inspector impermissibly issued a prohibition notice with the aim of focusing a PCBU's attention on a risk instead of addressing a particular "activity", a commission has ruled in quashing the notice.
A PCBU's WHS fine has been increased by 25 per cent because of the greater need for general deterrence, after a customer was injured by its failure to follow an equipment manufacturer's specified inspection regime.
A major employer breached a WHS clause in failing to identify and block all hazardous areas of a machine that workers could access, either accidentally or deliberately, and has been fined over a fatality.
A coronial inquest into the death of a worker, who inadvertently enlivened old electrical equipment he reasonably believed was safe, has highlighted the safety risks around old "decommissioned" plant.
An appeals court has upheld a $720,000 damages award to a worker who was reluctant to report his injury and a serious safety breach because of his junior position with a major company.
