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An operator in New South Wales has been awarded $20,648 and the mandated statutory superannuation contributions after the Commission deemed the investigation procedures by the employer for two separate safety breaches was inadequate. The operator, who was required to operate 300 tonne machinery, provided a non-negative sample for Temazepam (medication to treat insomnia). The operator was allowed to return to work the same day. During the same shift, the operator has covered

The Model Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Cth) has been amended by the Parliamentary Counsel's Committee after further adoptions of the recommendations from the Boland Report in 2018.

A PCBU contractor that supplied Belt Technician Mr Douglas Bennett to complete the joint on a newly installed conveyor belt at a cement facility in New Berrima has been convicted and fined $212,500 under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) by the NSW District Court. The contractor was one of three workgroups engaged to complete a work order to replace the conveyor belt on a seven-storey preheater tower. The Incident During the change-out, only ‘some’ of the buckets were

A South Australian manufacturer and its two directors have been charged with industrial manslaughter under section 30A of the WHS Act 2012 (SA). The charges arise from an incident in July 2024 in which Lachlan Carslake was fatally struck in the head by a metal object whilst operating a milling machine.

The Industrial Court of New South Wales has fined a labour hire Jumbo Operator $30,000 plus costs, for breaching his duties under section 28 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW). The breach arose from an incident within the Newcrest Cadia East Underground Mine that resulted in his Offsider sustaining an amputation of his left arm whilst he was changing out a drill rod on a non-isolated boom. Further information on the incident specifically is within this post. The T

The Industrial Court of NSW has imposed a fine of $750,000 to Newcrest Mining after a Jumbo offsider ('Nipper') amputated their left arm below the elbow within the Cadia East Underground Mine. Newcrest plead guilty to the section 32 offence. The Incident A nightshift workgroup (Operator and Nipper) were installing ground support meshing to a Heading. The workgroup was required to insert a new drill steel and coupling into the right-hand boom of the Jumbo to continue bolting t

An electrician who filed for unfair dismissal for breaching his site’s working at height requirements has been found to not have been harshly, unjustly or unreasonably terminated by the Fair Work Commission. The Incident A workgroup of two electricians was directed to perform maintenance work on a booster pump of a Mobile Mining Unit (‘MMU’) that was on parked on an incline. To freely access the pump, it required the removal of an aerial antenna from the MMU. To access and t

An employee who claimed that he did not have to sign a document outlining his personal compliance with his employer’s safety obligations, workplace expectations and procedures has been found to have not been unfairly or constructively dismissed by the Fair Work Commission. The Contentions His employer provided that the document did not alter the terms of his employment and that the acknowledgment of the document was a lawful and reasonable management instruction. Further, th

The Industrial Court of NSW has ordered a fine of $360,000 and further costs of $37,500 after convicting a PCBU of a section 32 offence of the WHS Act. The Hoist In April 2023, a fitter was converting a RX274 Raxtar Vertical Hoist from a trailing cable system to being busbar-powered on a construction site in Macquarie Park. The hoist was connected to a three-phase 415V power supply. Over two shifts prior to the incident, an electrician was converting the hoist. The busbar was