Browsing: Contractors

A PCBU that contended it had never witnessed or heard of the possibility of a sequence of events, which killed one of its workers on a National Broadband Network site, has been convicted and fined $250,000, after a judge agreed that "the likelihood of the risk occurring was low".

As a union steps up its fight against proposed WHS amendments targeting NSW workers, European researchers have called for "legal co-responsibility" provisions to discourage employment arrangements that pressure workers to take safety risks on public roads.

Workplace safety laws and safety-bonus schemes are likely to be overhauled, with an inquiry into a methane explosion, which seriously injured five workers, finding a major company's gas control measures couldn't cope with its high production levels, and should have been subjected to greater scrutiny from the regulator.

A Commonwealth agency has been acquitted of WHS charges, on appeal, relating to the hypothermia death of a contract helicopter pilot. A court found a key measure the agency was accused of failing to implement was not reasonably practicable.

In an often "childlike" sham, a local council contractor was able to direct $1.6 million to his own IT company after submitting a tender for IT work with a copied OHS policy, which included clearly irrelevant references to agricultural activities like "windmill maintenance", the Victorian Ombudsman has found.

NSW's WHS regulations are being amended to mandate PPE and safety induction training for gig economy riders, but the State Government has been accused of shielding "Silicon Valley behemoths" and blaming workers for a string of fatalities.

A PCBU that failed to take any precautionary steps against hazardous weather conditions has been handed a hefty WHS fine of $665,000, after a vulnerable worker sustained devastating crush injuries.

A company director charged over a fatal fall has been sentenced to the longest term of imprisonment ever imposed for a work health and safety offence in Australia, while his Western Australian company has received a State record high fine of $605,000.

• COVID compliance checks of employers stepping up in Vic;
  
• Comcare reveals COVID strategies in 2020 review; and
  
• Royal Mint faces up to $3.5m in fines under three WHS charges.

A study of 16 years of workers' comp data has foreshadowed that as Australia moves out of a recession triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic there will be a surge of workplace injuries, highlighting the importance of resilient safety strategies.