An employer has been convicted and fined $450,000 over a fatality, after a practice of leaving a worker alone to perform high-risk work "developed into a procedure in its own right" to allow his supervisor to complete residual tasks like paperwork.
In fining a company director for WHS breaches, a tribunal has found she failed to ensure her business complied with its duty to refuel a burner in a safe manner. The tribunal also questioned the suitability of equipment where risk-control hinges on strict compliance with every safety step in a manual.
A labour-hire company has been found not guilty of WHS breaches involving inadequate guarding and finger injuries, with a court finding its safety consultation process was "seriously compromised" by the representations of a host employer.
A PCBU that could have prevented the death of an 18-year-old worker through simple visual inspections has been handed one of the highest WHS fines in NSW history.
A major employer's new interactive induction program is teaching workers the importance and impact of decision-making through simulations of common high-risk situations, its health and safety boss says.
A McDonald's franchisee has been fined $82,000 for the conduct of its managers, who made "sinister" and cruel threats to young workers relating to their WHS right to water and toilet breaks, and the right to take sick leave.
A major employer has been handed significant WHS penalties in two jurisdictions, including for failing to properly respond to two previous workplace fires, which led to a contractor sustaining fatal injuries in a third fire.
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> 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.
A PCBU that failed to enforce the use of hi-vis clothing or establish an exclusion zone for mobile plant has been handed a high mid-range WHS penalty, after a 16-year-old worker was run over by an excavator, and survived through the "minor miracle" of being pressed into muddy soil.
