An employer has been ordered to pay nearly $600,000 to an apprentice who was injured slipping over, in a case highlighting the importance of ensuring workers routinely inspect and clean surfaces, including those under movable equipment.
A business partner has been fined $130,000 after a worker died falling off a vehicle being driven by an inexperienced operator. Meanwhile, Victoria has launched campaigns targeting workplace bullying in the healthcare sector and urging workers to call out s-xual harassment when they see it.
Employers using hazardous chemicals must implement systems for identifying and containing spilled substances to prevent the risk of serious injuries like chemical burns, a WHS prosecution shows.
A major employer's "significant efforts" to comply with its WHS obligations were undermined by a manager giving a worker unsafe instructions, which led to him suffering third-degree burns, a court has found in convicting the employer.
Four employers have been fined a total of nearly $350,000, after a misdirected swim school student sustained debilitating spinal injuries, a student worker fell five metres and other serious incidents, while a company's low safety fine has been increased six-fold on appeal.
Safety regulations for exclusion zones and equipment in the construction industry could be overhauled under recommendations from an inquest into a young worker's death, which led to the first reckless conduct charges under Australia's harmonised WHS laws.
More than 100 individuals and organisations have jointly called for an anti-s-xual harassment jurisdiction in the Fair Work Commission, in a five-point action plan presented to the national inquiry into the issue. Meanwhile, the inquiry has heard that young female lawyers are particularly vulnerable to harassment.
A PCBU that could have mitigated fatal risks "without cost" has been fined $180,000 over a young worker's death, and ordered to publish a notice in newspapers detailing its failure to enforce the use of personal protective equipment.
> Families contributing to workplace manslaughter reforms; > Missing beeper and beacon constitute OHS breach; and > NSW launches eToolkit to improve young workers' safety.
