> Regulator releases more details on WHS recklessness case; > Revised WHS Code for first aid adopted by Tas; and > NSW freezes workers' comp premiums for COVID-19 pandemic.
> NSW's COVID-19 work recovery tool guided by 100 years of crises; > SA employers should expect COVID call from a WHS inspector; > Vic workers told to keep working at home; and > Start date for ACT's labour-hire licensing scheme confirmed.
An Amendment Bill extending the offence of industrial manslaughter to Queensland's resources sector, with tougher financial penalties than under the WHS Act, has passed Parliament, and will commence on a day to be fixed by proclamation.
A regulator has been blocked from re-opening a case, recently dismissed by the High Court, against a worker who was awarded lump sum payments for injuries caused by opioid medication.
Coronavirus controls and restrictions have been stepped up across the country, with exemptions for certain workplaces and workers, while the ACTU's "name and fame" list of businesses providing special paid sick leave to staff is rapidly growing.
Laws establishing a new safety regulator and transferring "serious" resources cases to the Work Health and Safety Prosecutor have passed in Queensland, with amendments. Meanwhile, a timely Bill mandating vaccinations for healthcare workers has passed in Victoria.
In a significant development, given the recent safety scandals involving the importation and use of asbestos-containing materials, the model WHS Act has been amended to make it mandatory for regulators to issue notices when they believe "prohibited asbestos" is present at a workplace, with maximum fines of $500,000 for those that fail to comply with a notice.
An employer that negligently failed to identify and remove a slip hazard, which injured a labour-hire apprentice, is entitled to recover the $614,000 damages bill from its public liability insurer, an appeals court has ruled.
