A recent incident highlights the critical importance of effective supervision, risk assessment, and control measures when engaging young or inexperienced workers in higher-risk environments. At a mechanical workshop, a 15-year-old work experience student was assigned a task involving the draining of a vehicle radiator. Prior to this, the vehicle had been running to assess overheating. The student was instructed to loosen a hose clamp to release pressure from the cooling sys

Work health and safety (WHS) is most effective when it is built on shared understanding, clear roles, and genuine collaboration. One of the key strengths of the WHS framework in Australia is the way it brings together the business, management, workers, and Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs) to manage risks collectively. Understanding the role of HSRs in risk management is essential, not just for compliance, but for creating workplaces where safety systems actually wor

A recent Queensland court decision has reinforced a critical principle in work health and safety: identifying hazards and documenting control measures is not enough. Controls must be implemented, supervised, and enforced in practice. The matter arose from an incident at a worksite in Queensland involving interaction between mobile plant and pedestrian workers, a well-regarded high-risk activity. A pedestrian worker sustained serious injury when struck by operating machinery

In many small businesses, directors are not only decision-makers but are also directly involved in day-to-day activities. This hands-on involvement brings unique advantages, but it also increases accountability under Work Health and Safety (WHS) law. Directors are recognised as “officers” of a Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) and, as such, carry significant legal obligations. Their foremost responsibility is to ensure the business maintains an effective WHS

2025 so far has seen the courts in New South Wales handing down eight major convictions involving forklift-related incidents. These cases involved both companies and sole traders and have resulted in substantial fines and public scrutiny. A worker was fatally pinned by a 7-tonne forklift after alighting the forklift at an Electrical contracting site. The business was convicted and fined $150,000, with a project order imposed. A 43-year-old forklift operator was struck and

The following is from our associates at Kingston Reid Lawyers in Sydney. This article is written by Special Counsel Kate Curtain who is a senior member of the firm’s national safety and regulatory team. She can be contacted at Kate.Curtain@kingstonreid.com Kingston Reid and Kate have kindly given us permission to reproduce a briefing given to us about the proposed amendments to the WHS Act for public view: Date: 3 June, 2025. Amendments have been proposed for the Work Health

A recent case in New South Wales serves as a stark reminder of the importance of workplace health and safety (WHS) compliance and the...

When talking about the highest level of management people in a business, those individuals who are entrusted with ....

Weekly WHS Article 27th July 2023 Do your workers ever have these injuries? “Sprains and strains of muscles,...

On the 1st of October 2022 four new additions to the NSW WHS Regulation 2017 occurred. These were all to do with psychosocial risk managemen

In Robertson v State of Queensland [2020] QDC 185 a nurse working at Gold Coast Hospital made a claim for damages alleging she suffered...

“A worker may cease, or refuse to carry out, work if the worker has a reasonable concern that to carry out the work would expose the...

In today's workplace, health and safety protocols are more critical than ever. Employees are the backbone of any organization, and...