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.
A contract worker who sustained spinal injuries, which led to his death, in a fall from a scissor lift, should have been more closely supervised, given his and his colleague's limited experience at the incident site and their "insufficiently defined" work method, an investigation has found.
A WHS regulator has identified the absence of adequate controls for preventing three-metre-plus falls as a major area of non-compliance in the high-risk construction sector. It has also, coincidentally, accepted a PCBU's bid to enter an enforceable undertaking after a worker fell four metres.
> West Gate Bridge anniversary sends work safety message; > PCBU failed to enforce exclusion zones; and > Safety blitz moves to next Canberra suburb, issues 31 notices.
An employer negligently created unnecessary height risks by modifying a workplace vehicle, an appeals court has ruled in reversing an earlier decision and finding an injured worker is entitled to damages.
> New dangerous goods offences and mine rules made in NSW; > Dangerous goods changes and penalties commence in WA; and > WA's presumptive COVID-19 protections take effect.
Two major PCBUs have been fined $375,000 each, plus a total of $90,000 in prosecution costs, after their failures to meet their own safety-in-design requirements caused pipework to fail and kill a worker.
A PCBU allegedly failed to enforce safety standards and created a culture of non-compliance that led to a fatality, a judge has heard in upholding the business's WHS charge. However, the judge struck out a complaint against the business's co-defendant.
