Worksafe

SafeWork NSW Alter for fake respiratory protective equipment

By: SafeWork NSW The COVID-19 pandemic has increased demand for P2 disposable respirators.  As a result, construction businesses (and PCBUs) and some other industries have had difficulty getting P2 disposable respirators used for protection against dusts and chemicals including silica, asbestos and lead.  This extra demand is leading to fake (RPE) entering the Australian market.  Read more:  https://www.safework.nsw.gov.au/safety-alerts/safety-alerts/supply-of-fake-face-masks 

SafeWork SA – Safety Alert 

By SafeWork SA SafeWork SA is issuing a reminder to building owners and contractors about the importance of managing risk of falls.  SafeWork SA inspectors recently attended two separate incidents that resulted in serious injuries. Both incidents could have been fatal.  The first incident occurred when a contractor fell backwards through an unprotected skylight, falling …

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Worksafe Alert: Importance of having a plan to manage the risks of dangerous goods

By: WorkSafe Victoria WorkSafe Victoria is issuing an alert about the importance of having a plan to manage the risks of dangerous goods when temporarily shutting down or reducing the extent of your operations due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.  Background: Occupiers of premises that store or handle dangerous goods may need to temporarily shut down …

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Returning To Work In A Covid Safe Environment

By: Dianne Rawlings As many of you are returning to work within Covid restrictions there are many new issues and tasks that are required.  While we’re now used to not shaking hands, physical distancing, and the hygiene practices needed to manage restrictions with our clients, customers, and contractors.  It is important to keep in mind and …

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Business fined after fatal wall collapse 

By: Safety Solutions/NSCA A building company and its subcontractors have been fined a total of $620,000 for breaching the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 after a brick wall fell on two men, killing one and injuring another at a building site in Carlingford, NSW. NSW Bricklaying (NSWBL) was fined $500,000, Effective Building and Construction (EBC) was fined …

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Mt Waverley developer’s fine increased on appeal

By: Safety Solutions/NSCA Chloch Homes & Developments, a Victorian developer, has pleaded guilty to one charge of failing to ensure that the workplace was safe and without risk to health and safety. The developer was fined $15,000 without conviction. The Director of Public Prosecutions appealed the fine in the Melbourne County Court, where Chloch was convicted and …

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Statement of Regulatory Intent – Regulatory approach to Australian Work Health and Safety legislation – COVID-19

By Safe Work Australia Safe Work Australia will take a modified approach to enforcement to ensure compliance with the Australia WHS Laws during Covid-19 pandemic. While realising there is ‘unprecedented pressure’ on the industry they will apply a common sense and practical approach when engaging with workplaces. Statement of Regulatory Intent – Regulatory approach to …

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Inexperienced worker, who had not been inducted, killed on a construction site

Inexperienced and young workers remain a vulnerable group in all industries, in particular the construction industry, as demonstrated by the recent sentencing hearing of a concrete pump contractor in SafeWork NSW v NonAbel Concrete Pump Pty Ltd; Bilal Hamdan (2020). Case Background NonAbel Concrete Pump Pty Ltd (Company) is a company providing concrete pumping and …

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Small Business Council Slams SA Presumptive COVID-19 Work Injury Bill

By: Jared Butt HSEQ News The peak body representing Australian small businesses has slammed a South Australian Labor Opposition Amendment Bill that would provide automatic workers’ compensation to prescribed workers who contract COVID-19. The SA Bill would amend the State Return to Work Act 2014 so that when a person employed at a prescribed workplace or in …

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NSW: company enters into $334,000 enforceable undertaking

By: National News Rivalea (Australia) Pty Limited (an agri-food company in Albury who distributes pork nationally and overseas) recently entered into an enforceable undertaking with a total expenditure of $334,136 following an incident in which a subcontractor conducting work on a roof stood on a sheet of mini-orb ceiling material and fell through the roof …

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VIC: developer fined $125,000 for serious safety failures

By: WorkSafe Victoria A property developer in Victoria has been convicted and fined $125,000 for putting workers and the public at risk of serious injury or death. Mainline Developments Pty Ltd pleaded guilty in the Melbourne County Court to four charges over safety breaches during the construction of a residential complex at Narre Warren. The …

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Understanding Safety Systems on Worksites – Safety Alert

By: Greg Jones: ACT Work Safety Commissioner – 23/01/2020 In recent site visits WorkSafe ACT has identified a number of workers and officers of companies signed into, and allegedly working to, safety systems which they clearly do not understand. In response to these incidents WorkSafe ACT has issued a Understanding Safety System on Worksites Safety …

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SafeWork NSW conducts safety blitz on silica exposure

A cross-industry strategy lead by SafeWork NSW has significantly increased awareness of silicosis and standardised practices of exposure prevention. SafeWork NSW has visited every stone manufacturing business in the state and in addition, has had 448 interactions with businesses in the tunnelling, domestic and civil construction, foundries, and building products industries. SafeWork NSW is just …

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Industrial manslaughter laws passed in NT

By: workplaceohs 2 Dec 2019 The Northern Territory Legislative Assembly has passed the Territory’s first industrial manslaughter laws, creating a new offense to protect the safety of workers. The new law will ensure all businesses, regardless of the business size, face the same level of penalty if reckless or negligent conduct has caused a workplace …

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