COVID-19
Construction fines for breaching public health
orders
NSW Government SafeWork NSW officers will be out in force
this weekend visiting construction sites across Sydney after sites
in Marsden Park, Riverstone and Liverpool were issued with $40,000
in fines for COVID breaches (21 August 2021).
More...
Qantas Group mandates full COVID-19 vaccination for all
staff
Qantas has mandated coronavirus vaccination for all staff
members, with pilots, cabin crew and airport staff to be vaccinated
by 15 November 2021 (19 August 2021).
More...
Fair Work Ombudsman workplace vaccination guidance
updated
The Fair Work Ombudsman has published its latest workplace
vaccination guidance (13 August 2021).
More...
In the Media
Quarry operator charged over silica exposure
A Montrose quarry operator has been charged with six
contraventions of the OHS Act after workers were exposed to
respirable crystalline silica. WorkSafe alleges the company failed
to implement control measures, including the use of respiratory
protective equipment, to reduce the risk of workers being exposed
to dust (26 August 2021).
More...
NSW government supports research to protect ageing
workforce
Australians are continuing to work for longer than ever
before, with a growing proportion of people aged 65 years and over
now in the workforce (25 August 2021).
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Company fined $450,000 after roof plumber falls almost
seven metres
A worker fall through a penetration at the new Perth
Museum marks one of the first prosecutions and fines under Western
Australia's stronger penalties regime, introduced in 2018 (23
August 2021).
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Failing to notify a serious incident is an offence
The company pleaded guilty in the Toowoomba Magistrates
Court to breaching the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 by not
reporting a notifiable incident to Workplace Health and Safety
Queensland (WHSQ) immediately. WHSQ first heard
about the incident from the injured worker more than a year after
it occurred (19 August 2021).
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Developer fined for multiple safety breaches
A Melbourne developer that repeatedly failed to address
safety issues at a Doncaster building site has been convicted and
ordered to pay fines totalling $75,000 (18 August 2021).
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Manufacturer fined following worker's fall
A smallgoods manufacturer has been fined $30,000 after a
worker suffered serious injuries in a fall at a Carrum Downs
workplace in 2019, to one charge of failing, so far as reasonably
practicable, to provide or maintain a safe system of work (17
August 2021).
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Unlicensed electrician convicted for forging licence and
carrying out shoddy work
Energy Safe Victoria has prosecuted a man who forged
electrical credentials and safety certificates for dodgy and
dangerous electrical work carried out at properties in
Melbourne's east. Michael Bojic was convicted and fined $11,000
August after he breached 11 provisions of the Electricity Safety
Act 1998 (16 August 2021).
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Published – articles, papers, reports
FSC Accreditation Scheme Snapshot: June 2021
The Federal Safety Commissioner's
(FSC): 18 August 2021
The past three months has seen the Scheme pass the milestone of
$150 billion worth of Scheme projects. We've seen lost time
injury frequency rates continue to trend downwards. View the
Accreditation Scheme Snapshot.
Safe Work Australia fatality statistics
As at 19 August, 73 Australian workers were killed at work
in 2021. The numbers and industries may vary from one report to the
next, as Safe Work receives more detailed information (to check for
updates and more details on fatalities since 2003, go to the Safe
Work Australia Work-related fatalities
webpage).
In practice and courts
Safe Work Australia: Work in construction? Manage the
risk of hazardous air
Construction workers are at risk of breathing in hazardous
air, including through: Cutting, grinding, polishing and crushing
concrete, pavers, tiles and bricks; cutting drywall/plasterboard;
using paints, glue and varnishes, welding, and cutting and sanding
some types of wood. Some of the ways you can manage these risks
are outlined here (23 August 2021).
More...
New guide helps farmers safety knowledge grow
23 August 2021 – cotton industry guide to safety
2021/22.
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NSW
Mine Safety news
19/08/2021 –
Mine Safety news
NSW Resources Regulator: Key compliance priorities
updated
The Resources Regulator has published the July –
December 2021 Compliance priorities which sets out the key
compliance priorities for the next six months.
More...
Queensland
WorkSafe Qld Safety Alert: Truck driver exposed to
phosphine gas
In July 2021, a truck driver began feeling very unwell
after transporting grain to a feedlot with his semi-trailer. You
must store, handle, use and dispose of aluminium phosphide in
accordance with the product label and safety data sheet which
contains information on the fumigation, ventilation and re-entry
periods as well as precautions required to manage the health and
safety of workers and others (23 August 2021).
More...
Victoria
Safety Soapbox
The latest edition of WorkSafe's Safety Soapbox was
posted. This month WorkSafe's focus is on the new infringement
notices recently introduced by the Victorian government, with links
to a YouTube video of WorkSafe's webinar on this topic. Access
the August 2021 edition of Safety Soapbox
here.
Cases
SafeWork NSW v Simos Scaffolding Pty Ltd
[2021] NSWDC 443
CRIMINAL LAW – prosecution – work health and
safety – duty of persons undertaking business – risk of
death or serious injury SENTENCE – objective seriousness
– mitigating factors – aggravating factors – plea
of guilty – general deterrence – specific deterrence
– capacity to pay appropriate penalty COSTS –
prosecution costs OTHER – worker was electrocuted after a
4.7-metre reo bar protruding from a scaffold deck over a plywood
hoarding made contact with high voltage power lines – fitted
hoarding was not an impenetrable barrier – high voltage power
lines were visible from the scaffold deck – absence of
electrical hazard warning signs.
SafeWork NSW v Crawfords Freightlines Pty
Ltd [2021] NSWDC
442
CRIMINAL LAW – prosecution – work health and
safety – duty of persons undertaking business – risk of
death or serious injury SENTENCE – objective seriousness
– mitigating factors – aggravating factors – plea
of guilty – general deterrence – specific deterrence
– capacity to pay appropriate penalty COSTS –
prosecution costs OTHER – workers were loading aluminium
billets into a shipping container – a load on the tines of a
forklift truck shifted and fell onto a worker standing inside the
container – lack of adequate supervision – training
gaps – unsafe shipping container loading procedures.
SafeWork NSW v Plasser Australia Pty Ltd
[2021] NSWDC 441
CRIMINAL LAW – prosecution – work health and
safety – duty of persons undertaking business – risk of
death or serious injury SENTENCE – objective seriousness
– mitigating factors – aggravating factors – plea
of guilty – general deterrence – specific deterrence
– capacity to pay appropriate penalty COSTS –
prosecution costs OTHER – workers were engaged in oxy-propane
cutting of waste solvent drums – top joint of the drum failed
and explosive release caused the detachment of the drum lid –
failure to undertake a risk assessment on the risks associated with
the "de-heading" of waste drums – inadequate safe
work procedures – training gaps.
Enco
Precast Pty Ltd v Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and
Energy Union & Ors [2021] ICQ
15
INDUSTRIAL LAW – QUEENSLAND – APPEALS –
APPEAL TO INDUSTRIAL COURT - where union officials holding entry
permits under the Work Health & Safety Act 2011 (the
Safety Act) sought entry to the appellant's work site
– where the appellant initially denied entry – where
entry was allowed – where any right of entry without consent
was dependent upon the permit holders having a reasonable suspicion
of contravention of the Safety Act – where any right of entry
was also dependent upon workers on site being eligible for
membership of the union – where the appellant applied to the
Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (QIRC)
for relief concerning a "dispute" as to the right of
entry – where the QIRC determined that there was no relevant
dispute as to reasonable suspicion of contravention of the Safety
Act – where alternatively the QIRC found there was reasonable
suspicion held by the permit holders – where the QIRC held
that the burden of proof lay upon the operator to prove the Union
did not have coverage – where the QIRC held that a lack of
union coverage had not been established – where the QIRC
refused relief – where the appellant appealed - whether there
was error of law or jurisdiction in the QIRC decision
INDUSTRIAL LAW – WORK HEALTH AND SAFETY – GENERALLY
– where union officials who held entry permits under the
Safety Act sought entry to a workplace operated by the appellant
– where entry was dependent upon a reasonable suspicion of
contravention of the Safety Act and workers on site being eligible
for membership of the union – where entry was allowed by the
appellant – where the operator applied for relief to the QIRC
– where the jurisdiction to grant relief depended upon there
being a "dispute" – whether, given entry had
occurred, there was a relevant dispute about the union's
coverage – whether, given that entry had been allowed, there
was a relevant dispute about reasonable suspicion of contravention
of the Safety Act
INDUSTRIAL LAW – QUEENSLAND – INDUSTRIAL DISPUTE
– INDUSTRIAL ORGANISATIONS – MEMBERSHIP –
ELIGIBILITY – where union officials holding entry permits
under the Safety Act sought access to the appellant's site
– where the right of access depended upon workers at the site
being eligible for membership of the union – where the union
claimed coverage based on the Federated Engine Drivers' and
Firemen's (FEDFA) Rule and the Terrazzo Rule
– whether the FEDFA Rule gave coverage to the union –
whether the Terrazzo Rule gave coverage to the union
EVIDENCE – PROOF – BURDEN OF PROOF – GENERALLY
– where union officials holding entry permits under the
Safety Act sought entry to the appellant's premises –
where there was dispute about the existence of preconditions to the
right of entry – where entry was allowed – where the
appellant sought relief in the QIRC claiming the preconditions for
the right of entry did not exist – whether the burden of
proving that the preconditions existed fell upon the union –
whether the burden of proving that the preconditions didn't
exist fell upon the appellant
Fair Work Act 2009 Cth s 481, s 482, s 483; Industrial Relations
Act 2016 Qld s 447, s 448, s 451, s 557
Work Health and Safety Act 2011 Qld s 3, s 116, s 117, s 118, s
119, s 128, s 131, s 132, s 133, s 141, s 142, s 143, s 156, s 191,
s 192, s 193, s 194, s 230; Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011
Qld s 28.
Prosecution Result Summaries and Enforceable
Undertakings
Information about the most recent prosecution and
Enforceable Undertaking outcomes
Cyco Systems Corporation Pty Ltd
Moorabbin Magistrates' Court – Occupational
Health and Safety Act 2004 Section21(1) & 21(2)(a)
Outcome 23 Aug 2021.
David Franklin Builders Pty Ltd
Ballarat Magistrates' Court – Occupational
Health and Safety Act 2004 Section21(1)
Outcome 17 Aug 2021.
\DT Pty Ltd
Moorabbin Magistrates' Court – Dangerous Goods
Act 1985,Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004
Section17C(4); 26(1) & 111(4)
Outcome 16 Aug 2021.
This publication does not deal with every important topic or change in law and is not intended to be relied upon as a substitute for legal or other advice that may be relevant to the reader's specific circumstances. If you have found this publication of interest and would like to know more or wish to obtain legal advice relevant to your circumstances please contact one of the named individuals listed.
