A PCBU that failed to issue safety directions to a subcontractor has been fined $500,000 over the death of a labour-hire worker, bringing the total penalties for the incident to nearly $1 million.
A major employer has been handed a pre-discount WHS penalty of $900,000, after a worker and a customer were engulfed in flames. The relevant Elgas Ltd safety instructions for personnel were inadequate because they were "scattered" throughout dozens of documents, a court found.
Six gig economy companies have been issued safety notices after a Sydney blitz revealed widespread non-compliance with WHS laws, with breaches including the absence of hi-vis gear and explicit health and safety instructions.
A PCBU that supplied harnesses for height work, but unlawfully relied on a subcontractor to provide safety instructions and supervision to workers, has been convicted and fined after the subcontractor "tragically" failed to use the harnesses, resulting in a fatal fall.
A principal contractor has become the second PCBU to be convicted over a powerlines explosion, with a court finding it failed to re-assess risks after conditions changed at the incident site.
An employer has successfully defended a claim that it negligently provided a dangerously unsuitable ladder to workers, with a court finding it did not leave the ladder in the unsecured position alleged by a worker and a regulator.
A second PCBU has been convicted over a worker's two-metre fall, and fined more heavily than the first PCBU, after its failure to consult and coordinate with other parties on a task it knew to be dangerous resulted in the incident.
A mobile crane hire company has been charged with two category-2 WHS breaches, which allegedly occurred after a union unlawfully attempted to shut down the relevant workplace for safety reasons.
A court has examined the scope of a principal contractor's safety duties to the employees of subcontractors, in rejecting an injured worker's claim that the principal should have prevented his employer from requiring him to work in cramped spaces.