Lessons from Royal Commission into Home Insulation Program

Australia’s Royal Commission into the Home Insulation Program (HIP) demands the attention of all occupational health and safety (OHS) professionals, primarily, because a job creation and economic stimulus program was so poorly planned at the highest level of government, that it seems to have established a culture that led to workplace deaths. However the Royal …

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Judicial inquiry into insulation dominated by election campaign politics

Australia’s conservative opposition leader, Tony Abbott, has announced that he intends to conduct a judicial inquiry into the government’s handling of the home insulation program (HIP) that resulted in the deaths of four workers in Queensland and New South Wales in 2009 and 2010. Such a call would, normally, be very welcome but the timing … Continue reading “Judicial inquiry into insulation dominated by election campaign politics”

Company pleads guilty over insulation installer death

In June 2010, Arrow Property Maintenance Pty Ltd was charged with failing to conduct its business or undertaking in a way that was electrically safe, after, accoridng to one media report: “[A] 16-year-old boy was electrocuted while installing fibreglass insulation in the ceiling of a home at Stanwell, west of Rockhampton, on November 18, 2009.” … Continue reading “Company pleads guilty over insulation installer death”

More OHS charges laid over insulation installer deaths

The OHS investigation process into the deaths of installers of insulation in Australia has led to charges being laid against Arrow Property Maintenance Pty Ltd. On 28 June 2010, Queensland’s Department of Justice and Attorney-General has charged the company with breaches of both the  Electrical Safety Act 2002 and the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 following … Continue reading “More OHS charges laid over insulation installer deaths”