A PCBU that exposed a visiting pest controller to the risk of death or serious injury from a fall through a trapdoor has been convicted and fined, in a long-running case that challenged the validity of all WHS prosecutions over a three-year period.
Two companies and an engineer who allegedly failed to ensure a worksite was supervised in his absence have been charged over a fatal crane incident, while an employer has been fined $110,000 after a worker was nearly struck by a falling object - weighing two tonnes.
A PCBU that made a half-hearted attempt to comply with three improvement notices has been prosecuted and fined $24,000. Meanwhile, workplace safety regulations for using equipment in non-explosive atmospheres have been simplified in Queensland.
The director of a company with a long history of safety and entry contraventions had a "deliberate policy" to breach entry laws because he believed he was being targeted by a union, the Federal Circuit Court has found in fining the director, the company and a supervisor.
An employer forewent a manufacturer-approved method for performing a high-risk task because of a project's "continually moving timeline", which led to three workers dangling from a collapsed crane jib on the roof of a high-rise building site, a court has found in fining the employer $390,000.
> PCBU ordered to train WHS officer and fined $76k; > High-risk work strategy and other safety initiatives launched in NSW; > New dust disease victims identified under WHS screening scheme; and > NSW WHS review announced, explosives list gazetted.
A major employer has committed $364,200 to developing an industry safety standard after a worker's fingers were degloved in a tag-out incident. Meanwhile, an employer has been fined for safety breaches secretly filmed by an employee.
The number of serious workplace falls and related prosecutions is reaching epidemic proportions and will force courts to increase penalty levels, a judge has warned in handing a PCBU a pre-discount fine of $240,000.
