A principal contractor that failed to act on a union's height-safety warning has been fined $450,000 after a worker was killed, with a court lambasting its director for failing to take personal steps to protect workers.
> Two individuals fined over fatal fall from mobile plant; > Nearly 1,000 improvement notices issued in safety blitz; and > Australia's first occupational dust diseases register commences.
A worker didn't negligently contribute to his injuries by entering a trench he knew was at risk of collapse to "rescue" a drill, a court has ruled in awarding him nearly $1.5 million in damages.
The Fair Work Ombudsman has declared that Uber Australia Pty Ltd and its drivers do not have an "employment relationship", which suggests the business and similar gig economy companies won't be compelled to provide WHS or workers' comp protections without legislative change.
A judge who jailed a company director for a category 1 WHS breach failed to direct the jury to consider whether the man had a "reasonable excuse" for not installing a safety rail, an appeals court has ruled. In another case, a director has been jailed over a young worker's death.
Employees on a major project where a fatality occurred engaged in unlawful industrial action when they refused to work instead of performing the safe and appropriate alternative duties provided by their employer, the Fair Work Commission has found.
Organisations must reassess how they interact with WHS regulators and ensure officers are complying with their due diligence obligations, with the push for industrial manslaughter laws "sweeping the nation", according to a senior health, safety and security lawyer.
An employer has committed to relocating all its sites where workers could be injured by overhead high-voltage powerlines, after a non-employee narrowly escaped electrocution.
The safety director of one of Australia's biggest infrastructure projects has outlined contractor management strategies aimed at protecting the health and safety of workers and the public, including the unheard-of requirement to employ occupational hygienists.
