A company director jailed over the death of a worker has unsuccessfully claimed, on appeal, that his conviction and sentence should be quashed because he could not have eliminated the relevant risk through the control measures identified by the prosecution.
Employers will be forced to make quickfire decisions on right-of-entry disputes, under recent amendments to the Queensland WHS Act, according to workplace health and safety lawyers.
An employer's travel survey of employees was a lawful and reasonable part of its efforts to control the risks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and comply with its WHS duties, a commission has ruled in upholding the dismissal of a worker who refused to complete the survey.
A Queensland PCBU that failed to address the obvious risks posed by mobile plant as its business grew has become the first Australian entity to be convicted of industrial manslaughter. Its two young directors, who lied about the cause of a worker's death, were handed suspended prison sentences for reckless conduct spanning nearly 17 months.
> Tougher workplace manslaughter penalties pass in Vic; > OHS amendments and guidebook for hazardous substance commence; and > Electrically unsafe employer fined over severe injuries.
An employer's regular servicing regime, which exceeded a manufacturer's recommendations, has helped it defeat a worker's claim that his disabling injuries arose from driving a work vehicle with worn-down suspension.
An employer has been ordered to pay a worker nearly $800,000 in damages for negligently providing him with a faulty vehicle seat and causing his debilitating back injury, with a court rejecting claims that his case was defeated by scientific research.
A coronial inquest has found a major workplace's "grossly deficient" record keeping was the main cause of a worker's asphyxiation death, and referred the actions "or inactions" of the manager allegedly responsible for updating the relevant records to a safety regulator for further investigation.
> COVID-19 hygiene training mandated for WA work sector; > New worker killed by high-hazard task, PCBU fined; and > Individual fined over powerlines injury, COVID-19 reduces penalty.
A worker's exchange with inadequately trained supervisors in the aftermath of a violent altercation aggravated his PTSD from the incident, a court has found in ordering his employer to pay him more than $350,000 in damages.
