Browsing: Jurisdiction (NSW)

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 vehicle safety hinges on "heightened awareness"; and
  
• WHS entry guidance released in SA.

Employers have been reminded of the carcinogenicity of welding fumes and their duty to keep on top of the latest health and safety developments, with a WHS regulator releasing details of a project examining fume exposure levels and control measures.

A PCBU accused of fall-related breaches has committed to developing and certifying a safety management system against AS/NZS ISO 45001, under a $274,000 WHS undertaking in which much of the spend will go towards initiatives that mature safety organisations already have.

Tighter workplace exposure thresholds and product bans are needed to curb Australia's growing silicosis rate, according to the ACTU. Meanwhile, workplaces are being urged to address parking locations in their safety plans, after a worker was killed by a light vehicle.

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 major employer has lost its latest bid to compel workers to undertake a new work procedure involving "incredibly" remote risks, in a case highlighting the onus on employers to show their processes can ensure safety "so far as is reasonably practicable".

A PCBU and an officer have been convicted and fined for their inadequate safety systems, which failed to protect a worker from a falling truck load that had been packed poorly by another company. The worker sustained fatal injuries.

The High Court has rejected an employer's bid for special leave to appeal against a ruling that a woman who received death benefits under NSW workers' compensation laws, after her son was killed, is also entitled to pursue damages in her home state of South Australia.