How you respond and how well you are set up to respond following a serious incident involving contractors can be the difference between a prosecution or not. How you engage with your contractors after a serious incident can be the difference between blaming and ignorance or openness and learning. Join me and Joel Zyngier from
Free Webinar – Tuesday 30th January @ 1pm AEDT – Unpacking the 4 Principles of WHS Safe work Australia Guidance Again! In November 2023 Safe Work Australia issued a case study ostensibly to further explain and provide assistance to understanding the 4 Principles of WHS guidance previously issued in May 2023. Sadly, the guidance continues
I am almost bursting with the anticipation of Global Safety Innovation Summit being held in Wollongong from 13 – 15 Feb. I am so privileged to be sitting on a panel alongside some of the most exciting thought leaders in safety and safety law looking at the intersection of the newest approaches to safety and
We have our Q&A session tomorrow BUT I am going to take the opportunity to have a bit of a look at the latest Safe Work Australia guidance expanding on the Four Principles of WHS (and the problems therein). So come along for a final catch up for 2024. Click here for more details.
Join my session at the Workplace Health & Safety Show in Sydney on 20-21 September 2023. Get ready for two days of live interactive Seminars. Let’s shape a safer work environment together. See you there! Register free today!https://lnkd.in/gc9Xg_Xy
LinkSafe’s “Construction in Mining – Unpacking the WA WHS Regulations” webinar scheduled for Tuesday 22nd August will no longer be taking place, but never fear, it’s still going ahead!Alan Tait and I are preparing the perfect Podcast.Simply hit the link below, fill in your details and it will be sent directly to your inbox.What will be
Please join Harold Downes (gun contractor safety management lawyer) and myself for a free webinar on 12 July 2023 hosted by LinkSafe to unpack and clarify recent guidance issued by Safe Work Australia. Sadly the guidance over simplifies and confuses these principles in respect of contractor safety management. I strongly urge you to join us to ensure
A decision by the Full Bench of the Industrial Commission has shown a chink of light in the bleak landscape of prosecutions in NSW of Principal Contractors for incidents involving specialist contractors.Safework NSW had sought leave to appeal an IRC decision to revoke an improvement notice issued to a Principal Contractor, and internal review decision
Here is a link to an article I wrote in 2022 about the importance of properly prequalifying contractors, the real purpose of doing so and tips to do it well.SueClick here to view
A number of people have contacted me asking for my views on the recent decision by the NSW District Court – SafeWork NSW v Parrish Group NSW Pty Ltd [2023] NSWDC 13 and asking whether I think the decision undermines precedent law confirming the right of a PC to rely on an independent contractor to
I am running the next LinkSafe Legal Professional Development Webinar on 22 March 2023. The session will focus on unpacking critical terms within WHS legislation that define the extent of obligations owed to and by contractors in respect of safety. It is critical to have a clear understanding of these terms as they essentially drive
There is a funny quirk in the WHS Mines Regulations that requires a mine to obtain, assess and accept a contractor safety management plan prior to the contractor undertaking work at the mine. Mmmm so how does this work in the context of the position upheld by the High Court that it is not reasonably
A QLD Magistrate recently handed down a decision that may cause some angst, but careful reading of the factual matrix is important to avoid misunderstanding the impact of the decision. A cleaning contractor employed two “sub-contractors”. One of the “sub-contractors” walked across a roof, while ignoring a metal walkway, and fell resulting in serious injuries.
The “new” WHS Mining Regulations are creating some consternation particularly in respect of the management of contractor safety. However, the picture is not so very bleak, and the regulations are a good news story, if you understand what they actually require. I am speaking at the “Contractor Management under WA’s new Work Health and Safety
The contractor in the Arkwood matter has been fined a paltry $15 k for failing to ensure (and in fact proactively encouraging) an unqualified truck driver to operate a crane that struck overhead powerlines and seriously injured two workers. In addition, the contractor failed to comply with his own safe work method statement which emphasised
In the NSW District Court, a contractor has been found guilty and fined $600K for injuries sustained when labour hire workers were lifted to height in an excavator bucket. Apex Building Systems (Principal Contractor) hired an independent contractor, Greater Civil, to undertake demolition work. Labour hire workers to assist Greater Civil were supplied by Astute
See my latest podcast with Lawyers Weekly talking about the importance of getting the right advice about safety, and particularly contractor safety management. It was a lot of fun. Thanks for the opportunity.
The High Court has confirmed that where a risk to health and safety is obvious and foreseeable an employer must take proactive steps to reduce that risk. Uh how is this news and why on earth was the case appealed by the employer (a State Government department) all the way to the High Court. It
I am pretty sure banks do not consider occupational violence risks when they set up their processes to deal with customers on the phone. Customer service officers bear the brunt of customers being put on hold for extended periods of time, then being redirected or even being told to hang up and call another number.
ust the sound of all the acronyms used in safety makes me need a lie down and a bex. JSA, SWMS, SOP, WI, AFARP, ALARP, HAZOP, ICAM…… Not only is the use of acronyms effective at shutting “non-safety” people out of safety, they are usually used so loosely and exchangeably that they lose all meaning.