A company that paid a "contractor" an hourly rate could be held liable for his heart attack death, with a tribunal finding the man's past business patterns and work with other companies are not determinative of whether he was a "worker" when he died.
In a study that could have widespread implications for shift work, the increased use of contractors in the mining sector has been linked to a spike in injuries associated with long working hours.
A major employer with previous fatality-related convictions has been fined $160,000 for failing to take the non-burdensome steps required to prevent serious crush injuries. Meanwhile, Queensland has issued a fatality alert, and opened its WHS and return-to-work awards.
Yesterday's sentencing of South Australia Police (SAPOL) over the death of an employee in a freezer has provided crucial WHS lessons for PCBUs with workers who work alone. Meanwhile, the State Government has flagged laws to protect the health of emergency workers from "disgusting behaviour".
A WHS regulator's investigative function will receive a $390,000 boost, after South Australia Police (SAPOL) was handed a record-equalling fine over the death of a worker in a freezer at a training facility.
A supervisor has become the second entity to be convicted and fined over a FIFO worker's drowning, after he pleaded guilty to failing to follow his employer's safety manual or provide safe access to the workplace.
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.
SafeWork SA has accepted a $677,000 enforceable undertaking (EU) from one of two major employers charged with WHS offences, after a worker died from being trapped in a walk-in freezer at a police training facility.
An employer that failed to act on a series of safety warning signs has been fined $250,000, after a worker inadvertently activated the controls on an elevated work platform (EWP) and was crushed to death.
