> Workplace exposure thresholds halved in WA; > KFC operator failed to provide safety supervision; and > Did you miss OHS Alert's latest quarterly update?
Workplaces will no longer need to be on Victoria's permitted work list to open under new pandemic rules, taking effect tonight, but workers who are able to work from home must continue to do so, and safety plans remain mandatory.
Comcare will roll out a low-intensity cognitive behaviour therapy program to up to 120,000 Commonwealth employees over the next two years, while continuing to provide mental health first-aid training to its own workers, its 2019-20 annual report shows.
The World Health Organisation's workplace health and safety guidelines for COVID-19 are "unacceptably complacent" in parts and overlook evidence on workplace outbreaks, according to an occupational health academic, who fills in some of the "gaps".
The NSW WHS Act will be amended to impose new duties on PCBUs that "provide food delivery services", if an Opposition Bill (which forms part of a broader safety strategy for gig workers) passes Parliament. Meanwhile, Tasmanian employers have been told to "stay COVID safe" as border restrictions ease.
> Employer fined in latest action on coffee burns; > Labour-hire workers not properly trained; and > PCBU and directors fined for disregarding asbestos regulations.
A senior worker's failure to communicate effectively with other workers on managing the hazards of an injury-causing task provided a valid reason for his dismissal, a commission has found.
While direct employers are often considered more culpable for employees' injuries than overseeing contractors, a court has found a principal is as responsible as a subcontractor for a six-metre fall, and fined it $180,000.
> COVID work restrictions eased slightly in Vic, with UK lesson; > Comcare updates transition-to-usual-work guidance; and > Industrial manslaughter laws demanded for Tas WHS Act.
