Workers should never under any circumstances be put in a position where they are the "first line of defence" against approaching vehicles, a coronial inquest into the death of a traffic controller has warned.
An experienced worker was killed after he and a supervisor came up with an alternative work plan that was "contrary to established principles of workplace risk management", and made the outcomes of that morning's safety meeting obsolete, a coronial inquest has found.
A coronial inquiry has found that a single moment of inattention from a highly experienced worker led to him being dragged into a machine and dying. Meanwhile, an individual has been fined after a worker was killed on a tractor with corroded rollover protection, and an employer has been fined for confined space breaches.
> VLC safety blitz pushes for national changes; > Coroner makes workplace seatbelt recommendations; > Develop safety plan and stick to it, harvesters told; and > Regulator releases reports on carcinogens, noise and concussion.
A cost-saving measure and a supervisor's complacency contributed to a worker dying in a six-metre fall, while the lack of regulatory action in such cases could be encouraging poor safety cultures, a coronial inquest has found.
In a rare and important decision, a court has increased a Heavy Vehicle National Law fine four-fold after examining the severity of the safety breach and the legislative purpose of the scheme. Meanwhile, the regulator has launched a safety-breach hotline and the consultation process for a "master" chain-of-responsibility code.
A company that controlled a work site where three fatalities occurred within six weeks has successfully challenged the admissibility of components of an "expert's" report in a coronial inquest into the deaths.
A coronial inquiry into two carbon monoxide fatalities has warned against modifying generators or installing them in confined spaces. Meanwhile, a regulator has released guidance on preventing deaths in roof spaces.
In an ongoing fatality-related WHS prosecution, a superior court has found that the prosecutor's defective charges aren't invalid because other documents reveal the true nature of the alleged offence. It has also ordered the prosecutor to provide a "confidential" report to the defendant, in a ruling on legal privilege.
An employer should have developed a new safe work method statement and submitted it to a principal contractor for assessment after it abandoned its original high-risk work plan, a coronial inquest into a young worker's death has found.
