Employers have wellbeing-related duties to contractors and subcontractors and need to think outside the square and build relationships with those who might be suffering from poor mental health, a workplace mental wellness expert says.
> Employer fined $850k over missing SWMS and fatality; > Individual convicted for hindering WHS investigation; and > More WHS offences attract on-the-spot fines in NT.
A PCBU that failed to complete checklists required by a safe work method statement has been handed a low-range category-2 WHS fine, after mobile equipment tipped over on an incident-strewn infrastructure project that attracted unprecedented government scrutiny.
An employer has implemented processes for engaging specialist contractors to move equipment in hazardous circumstances, and entered a $1 million undertaking, after its alleged failure to complete a job safety analysis led to a worker being crushed by a 1.4-tonne machine.
"Work status" provisions in WHS and employment laws should be amended and aligned to remove disincentives to the provision of safety protections for gig workers and others, according to an inquiry, which is likely reignite calls for Victoria to adopt the model WHS Act.
An appeals court has examined the reach of workplace control provisions and the duty to tackle subsisting risks, in an important judgment upholding a $230,000 fatality fine.
A PCBU that took it upon itself to install guard rails around a void, despite instructions to the contrary, has been convicted and fined for WHS breaches, along with its director.
A PCBU and the man it relied on to prevent workers accessing unprotected edges have been convicted and fined a total of $165,000, plus $50,000 in costs, after a worker was severely injured in a four-metre fall.
An appeals court has relied on a contractor's contractual intentions and the control exerted by companies in a multi-party arrangement to quash a finding that the man was a "worker" when he was injured.
> Tougher workplace manslaughter penalties pass in Vic; > OHS amendments and guidebook for hazardous substance commence; and > Electrically unsafe employer fined over severe injuries.
