[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The McGowan Government have announced they will invest $12.9 million in new initiatives, to enhance workplace health and safety. As part of this initiative an additional 24 full time equivalent staff, including 21 additional inspectors, will be employed by WorkSafe. This will bring the total number of inspectors to 120 to conduct more safety inspections,…
Safe Work Australia have released a new guide Labour Hire: Duties of Persons Conducting a Business or Undertaking which is now available for download from their website. The guide has practical information for labour hire and host PCBUs on their roles before and during the placement of labour hire workers. Labour hire often involves a…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Be a Safety Champion. That’s the theme for the upcoming 2019 national safe work month which runs for the month of October. This year’s theme demonstrates that anyone, both employers and workers from any occupation or industry can be a champion for work health and safety. Safe Work Australia are encouraging everyone to support a safety…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The amount organisations are spending on compliance has been consistently going up for two decades, however, the amount of extra safety they are getting in return “has not been going up at all”, according to the Safety Science Innovation Lab at Griffith University.
The second Australian Workplace Psychological Safety Survey, surveyed 1,093 Australian employees and found that just under a quarter (23%) do not currently do any activities to connect them with colleagues. One of the biggest barriers found was not having time due to workload. Workplace mental wellness expert and R U OK? Board Member Graeme Cowan…
It may be only a matter of time before industrial manslaughter offences are introduced right around Australia, with a number of states and territories already introducing industrial manslaughter laws and a number of others looking to enact similar legislation, according to Clyde & Co.
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]There are 10 top pattern causes of death and serious harm at work, according to Michael Quinlan Emeritus Professor of Industrial Relation in the School of Management at UNSW. Quinlan examined a large array of work-settings and found they applied to everything from aircraft or shipping disasters to amusement parks like the Dreamworld incident as…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] The review of the model WHS laws is now complete and the report is available on the Safe Work Australia website. The review report makes 34 recommendations designed to enhance the WHS framework. Key recommendations relate to the model WHS Regulations and Codes of Practice, including making regulations on psychological health, higher penalties and…
A company director on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast has been sentenced to a year in prison and his company fined $1 million in the state’s first category 1 prosecution under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011. The category 1 charge of reckless conduct related to a 2014 fatality when 62-year-old roofer Whareheepa Te Amo fell…
You may be an officer and have an important duty under WHS laws. Safe Work Australia has released guidance material to help small business owners or operators understand their role as officers and their responsibilities under WHS laws. “If you make or influence the significant financial or operational decisions for a business then you may…
