Browsing: Authority/inspectorate (QLD)

• Industrial manslaughter Bill introduced to NSW Lower House;
  
• New solar safety Standard commences with transitional provisions; and
  
• Offshore laws with "modified" WHS provisions pass Parliament.

In upholding two WHS improvement notices, a commission has stressed that a PCBU cannot delegate its duties around workplace facilities to a subcontractor, and found that one of the PCBU's submissions was "unsupported by the laws of physics".

Three PCBUs and a director that failed to comply with basic height and machine operation requirements have been handed penalties totalling more than $300,000, after workers sustained life-changing injuries.

A company director, whose reckless WHS conduct involved a degree of planning and reflection, has been handed a six-month suspended jail sentence, while his business has been fined $500,000, in the second case on a work incident.

• Duty holders fined over amputation on custom-made plant; and
  
• Electrical warning issued after three WHS fines imposed.

An award-winning PCBU responded to the safety and operational challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic by implementing strategies across all levels of the hierarchy of controls, including a sign-language system to reduce the spread of respiratory droplets.

• Another duty holder charged with COVID safety breaches;
  
• Individual fined $50k for carbon monoxide failings; and
  
• Traumatic brain injury attracts penalties for PCBU, director.

With Mental Health Week just around the corner, a former swimming champion and TV host has issued a reminder on how important our state of mind is, and how crucial it is for employers to protect staff from psychological harm.

• Safety switch fault results in death and $300k penalty;
  
• Regulators lay charges and issue warning after crush deaths; and
  
• WHS regulator finalises probe into AFL club, issues fatality alert.

In the latest major case on a WHS provision for "resolving" disputes, a union and eight of its officials have been fined for right-of-entry breaches at an incident-strewn infrastructure project.