Two recent occupational health and safety (OHS) prosecutions in South Australia related to labour hire employees and providers indicate changes in enforcement approach and clues for change as they illustrate how some people and companies have almost no regard for the safety of its employees. According to a SafeWorkSA media release dated 28 May 2016 … Continue reading “Miserable failures in OHS of labour hire workers”
There are several important lessons from a recent conviction of an occupational health and safety consultant (OHS) in South Australia for impersonating a SafeWork SA inspector on multiple occasions. According to SafeWorkSA’s media release, Sam Narroway has been found guilty of impersonating a SafeWork South Australia Inspector and fined $A15,000. Presiding Industrial Magistrate Lieschke stated …
In response to proven breaches of occupational health and safety laws, judges usually apply financial penalties to companies and individuals. These penalties, like all court-ordered punishments are to deter the offenders from re-offending but also to show others the consequences of their actions. But what if an insurance company would pay for that penalty in … Continue reading “Insurance over OHS prosecution hits the deterrence effect”
On 21 December 2012 in the South Australian Industrial Court, Amcor Packaging (Australia) was fined $A96,000 over a breach of the occupational health and safety (OHS) laws. That type of sentence appears frequently in SafetyAtWorkBlog but the difference this time is that it is the third similar OHS prosecution and fine applied to Amcor in South Australia. … Continue reading “It can take a long time to learn how to manage workplace safety”
Injuries at work are often dismissed as Report Only or other category that does not require an investigation. But all incidents should be investigated and promptly. A recent prosecution of a tuna company in South Australia illustrates this point well. SafeWorkSA’s media release provides basic details: “On the 23rd of January, a male employee suffered … Continue reading “Prompt investigation is essential to prevent injuries”
SafeWorkSA has released details of a successful OHS prosecution concerning forklifts, yet again. But the full judgement has more management information than is usual and deserves to be read in full. The circumstances, according to a media release (not yet available online) are “…an incident… in August 2007 in which a 56 year old delivery driver tripped over the tines of a … Continue reading “Lack of separation of pedestrians and forklifts results in $A24k fine”
Machine guarding is one of the most effective and longstanding control measures for occupational hazards. Sometimes safety people even get excited about them. Equally safety people, regulators and magistrates, get angry when the guards are left off. One company in South Australia on 1 February 2010 received two penalties for similar hand injuries that occurred … Continue reading “No guard = hand injuries + $50k penalty”