The World Health Organisation has outlined low-cost measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus within workplaces or to travelling employees, while the Australian Government has initiated its coronavirus emergency response plan, which includes provisions for healthcare and border workers.
> New WHS fines, bans and threshold for silica confirmed in NSW; > SWA releases 30 new work health monitoring guides; and > New on-the-spot fines for rest-break breaches introduced.
An employer that mixed large quantities of incompatible chemicals, despite workers' safety concerns, has been convicted and fined after a number of workers and neighbouring businesses were exposed to toxic fumes.
> Worker vaccinations compulsory under new Vic laws; > Electrical safety licensing system passes Parliament; and > Mandatory disease tests to protect more workers in WA.
Safe Work Australia has released a series of guidance materials clarifying: PCBUs' duties to monitor the health of workers exposed to hazardous substances; the substances that trigger this obligation; and how to act on medical reports.
As with asbestos, manufacturing and installing engineered stone products is likely to prove too hazardous under any system of controls, and should be banned, a NSW MLC says. Meanwhile, Victoria has introduced mandatory safety training for solar workers.
> Another state introduces $1,000 phone distraction fines; > Compliance Code for silica made in Vic, WA makes Chinese translations; and > Wiring Rules amended.
WHS regulators are increasingly turning to infringement notices to tackle safety breaches, while the number of prosecutions has surged in one jurisdiction following a controversial lull, according to one of four new comparison reports from Safe Work Australia. The agency has also outlined PCBUs' duties involving air pollution.
The upcoming commencement of workplace manslaughter legislation coincides with a period of unprecedented regulatory activity and record-high inspection numbers, Victorian duty holders have been warned. Meanwhile, an employer has been charged with illegally stockpiling chemicals, and safety regulators have issued coronavirus and fatality alerts.
