A court has recorded a conviction against a company and nearly doubled its fine for failing to reduce or eliminate height risks, while a regulator has called for employers to review their engineering control plans, following a string of electric shock incidents.
Hazelwood Power Corporation Pty Ltd has been fined a total of $1.56 million - or just 12 per cent of the maximum available penalty - for 10 OHS breaches relating to the devastating Hazelwood coal mine fire, after the Victorian Supreme Court found the fire didn't result from the company's safety contraventions.
Safety processes for staff working alone or in remote locations must include strict training regimes and call-in procedures that don't place "unreasonable reliance" on "personal vigilance", a coronial inquiry into a worker's death has shown.
> Employer fined for non-causal failures after fatal fall; > COVID-19 work cluster sparks renewed calls for WHS overhaul; and > COVID-19 safety strategies announced in Tas and NT.
An employer's equipment cleaning policies, and evidence that workers abided by them, have helped it avoid liability for a worker's injuries and hefty damages bill.
> Employer fined $300k over disabling gas explosion; > Average injury premium rate cut for "uncertain" times in WA; and > Standards directory guides shift to essential products in pandemic.
A fine imposed on an employer for safety breaches, including one captured on a worker's mobile phone, has been more than doubled after the prosecutor appealed. Meanwhile, a regulator has issued dozens of prohibition notices in a blitz, and expressed frustration at the poor attitude to safety shown by "many" duty holders.
A lack of consultation and the absence of pressing safety needs have blocked a national transport company's decision to change its blood alcohol limit for certain drivers from the same as general law to zero.
