A Judge has confirmed that a Principle Contractor has obligations to manage the risk of falls from heights when a formworker fell 6 metres from a second floor, due to a void in scaffolding. The Judge observed that it is often the case that a sub-contractor is found to be more culpable than a principal … Read more
A security firm engaged as part of the hotel quarantine program was prequalified by CM3, an extensive and complex online contractor prequalification program which requests extensive evidence of safety management, usually through supply of documentation in an attempt to confirm on the ground safety management. The quarantine outbreak calls into question the benefit of putting … Read more
Following my post about a possible incorrect conviction under s 23 of the OHS Act I have been referred to Muscat v Magistrates Court VSC 2018 and a decision by the Victorian Supreme Court that s 23 does in fact apply to contractors. However on reading that case, which turns on complex interpretation of the … Read more
Recently it was reported that a Principal Contractor, Seascape Constructions, was convicted and fine $850K for 1 – failing to ensure the safety of persons other than it’s employee’s from risks arising from its undertaking when a contractor fell from a second floor and was killed and 2 – failing to issue SWMS to contractors … Read more
In amongst the calls for rolling of heads and that Dan should have been standing at doors himself, it is critical to understand, at law, what Dan’s responsibilities really were. The case law is clear a Principal Contractor (aka Dan) is entitled to rely upon the expertise of contractors it engages to undertake specialist work. … Read more
To clarify the manager at Connect Logistics who has been charged with manslaughter has been charged under the Crimes Act by the Police. The charges are not in relation industrial manslaughter, which was not in place at the time of the incident and which are not retrospective. In addition any charges of industrial manslaughter must … Read more
It was meant to be a watershed moment in the regulation of safety in the transport industry. It was meant to result in all users of heavy vehicles having a good hard look at themselves. It was meant to ensure drivers did not carry the brunt of the majority of enforcement activity. It was meant … Read more
Mary the maintenance manager from Our Lady of Perpetual Anxiety grapples with monitoring Peter the Perfect Plumbers safety. View Here
So do we think there are grounds for WorkSafe Victoria to prosecute the security guard who while employed as a security guard, and owing duties under the OHS Act engaged in sexual intercourse with persons in quarantine, who are assumed to have civod until the expiry of quarantine or testing proves otherwise, recklessly exposing themselves … Read more
I am just preparing some content for a client presentation and rereading the above case and it is just fantastic. I really encourage anyone who wants to understand the law as it applies to Principal Contractors and their independent contractors in respect of safety to read it. It is quite long but well written and … Read more