The Northern Territory, in conjunction with the Commonwealth and other state and territory governments us committed to improving the work health and safety of all Australian workers and enhancing productivity by harmonising work health and safety legislation across Australia. Model legislation has been developed and all states and territories are committed to enacting the new [...]
Western Australia is one of four jurisdictions (including Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia) which will not be adopting the WHS laws from 1 January 2012. The Commonwealth has not provided sufficient time for all Western Australian businesses to come up to speed with the new requirements. The model WHS regulations are still minus the mining [...]
South Australian Parliament voted to adjourn debate on the Work Health and Safety (WHS) Bill until 14 February 2012. Accordingly the new WHS legislation will not begin in SA on 1 January 2012 as previously planned. SA Government has every confidence that the nationally harmonised legislation will be approved by Parliament when it resumes in [...]
National harmonisation The Victorian Government has confirmed its support to the principle of harmonisation subject to a satisfactory assessment of the impact and benefits to Victoria. The Government has initiated a supplementary Victorian specific assessment looking at the impact of the proposed laws on Victoria. It has stated that this will take several months, and [...]
Transitional arrangements have been put in place in NSW to support businesses, industry and workers move to a new system of work health and safety (WHS) laws. These arrangements start on 1 January 2012. The transitional arrangements have been based on national transitional principles agreed to by all jurisdictions. In summary, these transitional arrangements provide [...]
There are a number of changes to Queensland’s Codes of Practice. 1. There are 11 new codes of practice adopted by Queensland through the national harmonisation process. 2. The Recreational Diving, Recreational Technical Diving and Snorkelling Code of Practice 2010 will be remade under the Safety in Recreational Water Activities Act 2011. 3. There are [...]
Introduction There is little doubt from reading the myriad of comments made on various sites that workplace bullying and harassment continues to fuel discussion. In fact, I have just finished reading a number of comments made by some obviously very traumatised workers from the public and private sector. There are some common threads relating to: [...]
OHSA provides a great insight into the importance of training; Employers must have an overall safety program including relative site specific safety information where applicable. The safety training program should cover topics such as: Accident Prevention and Safety Promotion Safety Compliance Accident and Emergency Response Personal Protective Equipment Safety Practices Equipment and Machinery Chemical and [...]
Fatally unsafe stacking system costs Fonterra Australia $300,000 fine and a conviction. Unsafe storage has resulted in an industry-wide warning from WorkSafe after dairy products manufacturer, Fonterra Australia Pty Ltd was today convicted and fined $300,000 in the Melbourne County Court. WorkSafe’s General Manager for Operations, Lisa Sturzenegger, said all businesses had to ensure they [...]
Gordon Harris is an auditor and contract investigator for the Plumbing Industry Commission. He has worked in the air conditioning installation industry for 46 years as a refrigeration and air conditioning mechanic, trainer, engineer and most recently, contract investigator. Here Gordon writes of his experience and recommendations for the safe installation of air conditioning units: [...]
