The Safety Institute‘s OHS Professional magazine for December 2009 included an article (originally published in an OHS newsletter from Piper Alderman for those non-SIA members) about the application of legal professional privilege using a New South Wales Industrial Relations Commission decision as its basis (Nicholson v Waco KwikForm Limited). The case received considerable attention by OHS law firms.
Reports are coming out of New Zealand that representatives of the Education Department are uncomfortable with being charged under the country’s OHS legislation following a fatal boiler explosion at Orewa College. On 24 June 2009, a boiler exploded at Orewa College in Northland, New Zealand. Initial media reports said that the boiler was being repaired the day after a … Continue reading “Boiler death puts OHS spotlight on New Zealand Education Department”
Illegal migrant workers are not a big problem in Australia. Those who are caught are usually working outside of the allowances of their tourist or student visas. Being an island nation and the bottom of the world, Australia does not have border protection issues to the extent of the United States or Europe. That’s an … Continue reading “Coordinated raid on illegal workers in Australia”
The quad bike safety issue is hotting up on a range of fronts in Australia with the trade unions taking an active interest, meetings between bike manufacturers and safety designers, and the SafetyAtWorkBlog email box filling up with background content and opinion. One of these emails reminded me of some court action that was taken … Continue reading “Quad bike safety sensitivities”
In 2007, according to the ABC news site, “42-year-old Geoffrey Johnson [died after he] inhaled toxic fumes from paint stripper when he was cleaning the inside of a large chemical tank”. On 16 December 2009, his employer, Depot Vic P/L, was fined half a million dollars over this breach of the OHS legislation. Initial reports … Continue reading “Unique company response to confined space penalty”
In many submissions to the Australian Government’s development of a Model OHS Act, there was a request, sometimes passionately made, for the inclusion of a legislative provision for “suitably qualified” OHS advisers. This week’s Communique from the Australian, State, Territory And New Zealand Workplace Relations Ministers’ Council (WRMC) included no mention of “suitably qualified”. So where does … Continue reading ““Suitably qualified” looks dead”
According to the WorkSafe Victoria website, changes to the Accident Compensation Act were introduced to the Victorian Parliament on 10 December 2009. WorkSafe is very confident that the changes will be passed. The summary only talks about “when” the bill is passed. There is every likelihood it will be passed but the summary has a tinge … Continue reading “Accident Comp changes put to Victorian Parliament”