law – Page 227 – SafetyAtWorkBlog

Public sector union capitalises on WorkSafe bullying campaign

Through March 2010, WorkSafe Victoria is running a series of seminars on the issue of workplace bullying throughout Victoria. In support of the campaign, the OHS regulator has a series of ads in the newspapers (pictured below left)

Cheekily the Community & Public Sector Union has “piggybacked” on the promotional campaign emphasising that the Victorian Government is changing the law to make it more difficult to claim workers’ compensation Continue reading “Public sector union capitalises on WorkSafe bullying campaign”

Abuse, egos, corporate governance and the safety profession

On 15 March 2010, the National President of the Safety Institute of Australia (SIA), Barry Silburn, distributed an email to the 3,600 SIA members strongly refuting the “unsubstantiated claims of irregularities” that were, apparently made by Gavin Waugh, Western Australian Division President and former National Secretary, in a member discussion forum and email circulated to members a couple of days earlier.

Many SIA members will be perplexed by having such an email lob in their inbox without any explanatory background and with obtuse language. In some ways the email reads like the accountant has done a runner to spend all the members’ money at the casino. Continue reading “Abuse, egos, corporate governance and the safety profession”

Legal changes for Victoria’s workers’ compensation laws

As workers’ compensation keeps bubbling away as a political issues in South Australia ahead of this weekend’s State election, other Australian States are not sitting still on workers’ compensation.

Amendments to Victoria’s workers’ compensation system have passed through Parliament on 11 March 2010 enacting most of the findings of the 2007 Hanks inquiry. The laws will be gradually introduced but with most effective from 5 April 2010.

The best summary of the amended laws is on the Victorian WorkCover website. Continue reading “Legal changes for Victoria’s workers’ compensation laws”

Gas, lungs, ladders, fruit picking and concrete pumping – latest workplace incidents

The media on 11 March 2010 was reporting the discovery of a the body of a hotel worker in a beer cellar of a Victorian hotel. WorkSafe Victoria is investigating the possibility of carbon dioxide.

As with so many cases of confined spaces, a second man was lucky to be alive after venturing into the cellar to check on the hotel worker. The police report suggested that the second man was making a delivery to the hotel.

At such an early stage in the investigation and with so little detail,it is hard to say more than what WorkSafe’s Stan Krpan said in a media release this afternoon:

“With or without a gas leak or chemical exposure, limited means of entry and exit, poor air circulation, and working in confined spaces, is risky. Continue reading “Gas, lungs, ladders, fruit picking and concrete pumping – latest workplace incidents”

The cost of doing nothing

It is always an option to do nothing. The status quo can be very attractive but if one chooses to not control a workplace hazard that one is aware of then the penalty must be accepted and the responsibility accepted.

WorkSafe Victoria has provided details (not yet online) of a case where a director of a food manufacturing company did not act on a workplace hazard and that hazard resulted in

“…the worker’s middle three fingers …removed to the knuckle; and he suffered damaged nerves, constant pain, and restricted movement of his thumb.”

The sole director of the company, Dino Fabbris, was fined $A25,000 for

“…his failure to arrange for the shredder to be guarded – despite working on the factory floor on a daily basis and taking managerial responsibility for the company’s two factories.” Continue reading “The cost of doing nothing”

Another go at homeowners being exposed to workplace prosecutions

In October 2009, Australian lawyer, Michael Tooma gained considerable media coverage by stating that under the model Work Health and Safety Act:

“..if I call out a tradesperson to do some work at my home, my home is their workplace and I would be a person at their workplace. As such, I would have a duty to take reasonable care for my own safety and the safety of others and to cooperate with their reasonable instructions in my own home. If I breach that duty I could be liable for a criminal offence.”

At that time SafetyAtWorkBlog was skeptical as it was hard to believe that this likelihood, or regulatory loophole, would be allowed to continue. It seems that a decision in the New South Wales District Court on 4 March 2010 has provided Tooma with a case that supports his decision. Continue reading “Another go at homeowners being exposed to workplace prosecutions”

Man survives trench collapse, employer fined £3,500

Trench collapses can be one of the most horrifying incidents on a construction site. The UK’s Health & Safety Executive has released photos of the trench in which a worker, Mark Miller according to one media report

“…suffered a broken leg and bruising, and was incredibly fortunate to survive the horror of being buried alive.”

The same media report from Cambridge News says

“The court heard Mr Miller was saved by Hill [the contractor and Miller’s employer],…. after he rushed to free the trapped worker.

Robin Cooper, prosecuting, said: “He was buried up to his abdomen and felt his left leg break. More earth then collapsed on him and buried him to above his head.”

Continue reading “Man survives trench collapse, employer fined £3,500”

Category: law

Public sector union capitalises on WorkSafe bullying campaign

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Abuse, egos, corporate governance and the safety profession

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Legal changes for Victoria’s workers’ compensation laws

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Gas, lungs, ladders, fruit picking and concrete pumping – latest workplace incidents

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The cost of doing nothing

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Another go at homeowners being exposed to workplace prosecutions

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Man survives trench collapse, employer fined £3,500

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