Queensland is leading the country in an improved approach to workplace health and safety, appointing the nation’s first Work Health and Safety Prosecutor. Minister for Industrial Relations Grace Grace announced
Victorian Government pushing for world-first silicosis safety standards
Following our recent piece about the unprecedented rise in cases of silicosis in Queensland, the Victorian Government has announced it will be pushing to implement world-first standards of safety to
Another death after fall from height despite regulator’s warnings over safety, fines
Despite repeated calls from SafeWork NSW in the past few months, another worker has died after falling from a height on a job site in Lake Macquarie. Brayden Asser, working
Death by silicosis sparks calls for greater safety awareness
A Gold Coast stonemason who died from silicosis has sparked calls for a national enquiry into the operating and safety procedures surrounding the dangers of silica dust. He is the
WHS alerts issued over trench safety
A number of WHS regulators have issued safety alerts warning employers and workers in the construction and utility industries to take trench safety seriously after two plumbers were engulfed in
A rise in assaults on SafeWork Inspectors
There have been a number of incidents in the last two months involving SafeWork inspectors, and the SafeWork Regulator and Secretary of the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation, Martin
Fatality fines increase exponentially on appeal
Fines imposed upon two PCBUs have been increased to almost $1million this week, following appeals. The NSW Attorney-General has impressed upon PCBUs the importance of workplace safety and has reiterated
Illegal demolition and asbestos dumping results in more than $50,000 in fines
Victorian company 160 Leicester Pty Ltd has been convicted and fined more than $50,000 including costs, for breaching sections 26 (“Duties of persons who manage or control workplaces”) and 9 (“Power to obtain information”)
$300,000 fine after workers fall 12 storeys
A PCBU has been found guilty under sections 19 (Primary duty of care to other persons) and 32 (“Failure to comply with health and safety duty–Category 2”) and fined $300,000
SWA eyes major changes to dust limits, silica exposure
Safe Work Australia has announced that it is seeking feedback on its draft evaluation reports on respirable crystalline silica and coal dust, which is part of its ongoing overhaul of
Worker’s widow succeeds in proving employment caused terminal cancer
The South Australian Employment Tribunal has found that workplace chemicals were to blame for a worker’s terminal cancer after they identified a “significant gap” in the available protections against skin
Workers warned of the dangers of working in confined spaces
There have been increased calls for employers to protect their workers who are undertaking work in confined spaces, after a number of incidents last year. Minister for Better Regulation Matt
$60,000 fine for workplace chemical explosion
The case of a Sydney chemical distribution company has been finalised in the District Court of NSW, with a penalty of $60,000 imposed following a workplace explosion and subsequent fire
Significant hearing risks revealed in new study
According to research led by the Curtin University School of Public Health, a significant proportion of workers in Australia are exposed to noise levels above regulated occupational limits. Of those,
Government promises tougher asbestos import laws, better referral services
The Federal Government has announced stronger border laws the prevent the import of asbestos products into Australia, alongside an overhaul of the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency’s hotline service to
Penalty unit system, industrial manslaughter law in proposed WHS changes
Proposed WHS amendments that could increase maximum fines by more than 90 per cent and explicitly ban insurance against penalties have been principally supported by the Federal Government. Following last
PCBU to spend $500K for safety systems after worker’s death
Bloomfield Collieries Pty Ltd has committed more than half a million dollars to promote safety around trucks, as well as to improved mental health tools, following the death of a
Worker injured by forklift, employer fined $80,000 for failing to induct contractors
The importance of adequately communicating safety procedures to contractors has been highlighted this week, with a NSW Court found a company guilty under sections 19 and 32 of the State
First ever WHS-related prison sentence handed down over 2017 workplace death
A Victorian employer has been sentenced to six months in prison and fined $10,000 (additional $7,336 in costs) for breaching section 24 and 32 of the Victorian OHS Act: Duties
James Hardie back in court, record compensation payment reduced
More than a decade after James Hardie made headlines for failing to protect workers from asbestos material it knew would harm them, the company is back in court.
Renewed focus on WHS risk management as heatwave sweeps Australia
Following the Bureau of Meteorology’s latest annual climate statement, three-month forecast and the extended heat conditions over much of Australia, work safety authorities have issued special heat warnings to employers.
Company fined after the death of apprentice worker
A court has found a host employer guilty of failing to meet its primary duty of care requirements and failure to comply with health and safety duty. The finding comes
Demolition company fined $90,000 after worker’s skull pierced by steel bar
An incident in 2013, in which an 18-year-old worker’s skull was pierced by a steel bar has resulted in the construction company in control of the site being fined $90,000.
$300K fine for third-time offender of WHS laws
An employee of a company previously convicted of a workplace fatality has been severely injured and the employer fined $300,000. In March of 2015, on a worksite operated by Ceerose
$2.9M in damages awarded to worker injured on worksite
The NSW Court of Appeal has found that a company failed to protect its workers from the risk of falling objects, and is solely liable for a man’s permanent brain
NSW first: jail time for serial asbestos dumper under tough new laws
NSW Environment Minister Gabrielle Upton says that the jailing of a serial asbestos dumper “served as an important warning to those thinking of breaking the law”. It was the first
?Unqualified workers injured as scaffolding collapses
The importance of safety procedures when working at heights and on building sites has again been highlighted in a SafeWork case in NSW. In April of 2016, two men were
Missing MSDS causes severe burns?; employer fined
A worker suffered serious chemical burns because he didn’t understand his workplace’s hazardous spill procedure, in an incident from January of 2016. The accident has been determined as the fault
Fines issued in breach that caused Karratha crane collapse
There have been renewed calls for a focus on safety limits on machinery on worksites after a crane operator who disregarded safety warnings seriously injuring another worker. In Karratha in
Renewed? focus on falls from height prevention after Victorian worker’s death
A Melbourne construction company has been fined $275,000 following the death of a painter who fell 3.46 metres through a stair void at a Mornington Peninsula building site. VCON Pty
Crane operator fined over 2015 collapse which seriously injured another worker in Karratha
A crane operator who disregarded safety warnings when he overloaded the machine he was using, seriously injuring another worker, has been fined $4,400. Robert Anthony Hoekzema was working on a
Crackdown on Heights Compliance
Almost 12,000 notices were handed out by SafeWork NSW across 1,000 site visits in a 12-month blitz on the construction industry. The crackdown was prompted by a significant rise in
NSW steps up fatality-reduction targets, releases new WHS plan
NSW’s Work Health and Safety have unveiled bold new plans as part of its refreshed ‘roadmap’ to reduce work-related deaths by 30 per cent, and serious work injuries and illnesses
Proposed dust safety amendments and start date clarified in Qld
The Queensland State Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy revealed that it will reduce the regulated exposure limit for coal dust on 1 November 2018, contingent upon the decision
New inquiry into OHS avoidance in the gig economy launched in Vic
Online platforms such as AirTasker and Uber are the focus of a new Victorian Government inquiry into the application and enforcement of OHS, workers’ compensation and other workplace laws. The
Noise controls must address chemicals, individual needs
The “action level” for workplace noise exposure and the benefits of hearing protective devices vary between individuals, while noise controls must mitigate the risk of exposure to ototoxic chemicals, according
CEO prosecution a warning to all directors
Directors of companies should consider themselves put on notice, regardless of their day-to-day business involvement after a new decision was handed down from the NSW Industrial Court. The court found
Asbestos deaths to dwarf road toll, but medical breakthrough promising
The number of asbestos-related deaths in NSW will soon dwarf the annual road toll, Ombudsman Bruce Barbour has warned in calling for a State-wide asbestos-eradication plan. But a medical breakthrough
Small PCBU should have ensured large PCBU was safe
A PCBU had a WHS duty to instruct a second, larger company to alter its workplace layout before sending its workers there, a judge has found in convicting the PCBU.
PCBU guilty of offence regardless of possible skylarking
A court has reiterated that employers owe a duty of care to workers known to engage in “skylarking”. The observation came after a PCBU worker was found guilty of WHS
Union lowers exposure standard ahead of national overhaul
The Victorian Trades Hall Council has created a safety standard stating that employers must not expose workers to respirable silica dust at or above 0.025 milligrams per cubic metre on
Asbestos-dumping company, directors fined heavily ahead of OHS case
A Victorian company recently charged with asbestos-related OHS breaches, and its two directors, have been handed near-maximum environment protection penalties for illegally dumping the hazardous substance at a Cairnlea site
