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Newsletter
September 2017
· Having training material is not the same as using the training material · Employee looses unfair dismissal case · WHS claim a decade in the making · Are you welding your life away . · Just for fun:-
Having training material is not the same as using the training material.
A patient fell off a tilt table by his carer at residential home care site operated by the Australian Home Care Services Pty Ltd (AHCS)
AHCS had a documented training and instruction guide for the patient’s exercise on the tilt table, which stated
that the patient should not be left alone, but there was no documentary evidence that the carer was trained in the
use of the tilt table or the requirement that the patients be supervised at all times whilst
The patient was performing routine exercises on the tilt table under the supervision of his carer. During the exercises another resident called out to the carer for assistance, the carer left the patient on the tilt table in a squatting position. He gave him the controls, intending to be back in 5 minutes. While away, the patient pressed the wrong button and in fact changed the angle of the table so that a significant amount of pressure was placed on his legs. Unable to support his own weight, he fell to the floor. The tilt table was angled in such a way that the patient’s legs were supporting his entire body weight and as a result, both legs (tibias) were broken due to the weight.
The patient required a significant hospital stay after the incident. AHCS failed to notify WorkSafe immediately after becoming aware of the incident in writing within 48 hours of the incident. The offender submitted an Enforceable Undertaking to WorkSafe which was accepted.
Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court TOP
Employee looses unfair dismissal case A Calvary Hospital office worker, who was sacked after an investigation found he sexually harassed his colleague while at work, has lost an unfair dismissal claim against his employer. It had been alleged that at about 1pm on May 19, 2016, the man, an administrative employee, invited his co-worker for a cigarette and to see his new office, which was under construction.
Calvary Hospital was justified in sacking the admin worker, the Fair Work Commission found.
The woman alleged that when they got to the new office, he started playing with the blinds as if to close them, and invited her inside. The woman said she declined and walked away. The man denied fully the allegations. The hospital engaged an external consultant to conduct an investigation. The investigation report said there was enough evidence to form an opinion the man had grabbed the woman and left a bruise to her arm. The report found he had sexually harassed her, and also that he breached Calvary's code of conduct and behaviour policies.
WHS claim a decade in the making A factory manager won workers’ compensation – but was not informed as such for almost a decade and as a result, spiralled into alcoholism and resultant brain damage. The South Australian Employment Tribunal has found in favour of an Adelaide smallgoods factory manager in a judgement that exposes a failure of communication by WorkCoverSA (now called Return To Work SA) and documents decades of personal tragedy. The factory manager’s ill-health – and eventual “crippling” brain damage – was caused by stress from managing his employees’ compensation claims, the tribunal found. He developed borderline major depression and irritable bowel syndrome as a result of stress he suffered while managing what he believed to be the “fraudulent” compensation claims of his employees in 2001.
In 2002, he filed his own workers’ compensation claim. It was Incredibly, though, WorkCoverSA did not inform him of the ruling in his favour and he spent almost a decade believing his claim had been rejected. It wasn’t until 2011 – after his brother made a chance phone call to a talkback radio program – that WorkCover informed him that his claim had, in fact, been accepted.
A worker suffers two injuries and two companies are charged Because of a change in regulations, Baptist Care Services (BCS) required to have a sprinkler system installed into part of their aged care facility known as Kularoo Aged Care Facility at Forster. Unity (NSW) Pty Ltd (Unity) was contracted to design and install the system. Activate Fire (Activate) entered into an agreement with Unity to design and install the system. Hanna Plumbing entered into an agreement with Activate to supply the labour to fabricate and install the system. Activate retained the responsibility for providing a Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) for the work, certifying the system and for arranging materials to be ordered and delivered to site. The SWMS identified the risk of electric shock when moving in or working in a roof space. The SWMS identified the relevant control measures to respond to the risk as: (a) noting the location of services and avoiding them; and (b) avoiding dropping tools or equipment. Before commencing work at the facility the employees of Hanna Plumbing were required to sign the SWMS prepared by Activate Fire to indicate that they had read and understood it. They were also required to undergo a site induction. There was evidence that an assessment of the roof space for risks to safety was made and determined that when an extra manhole should be installed in the ceiling of the administration wing to provide a safe means of accessing the roof space and that he would remove the metal roof sheets to provide natural light, ventilation and better access to an alternate method of access to the roof space at that time. Also that the wiring in the roof space as “sloppy”. The wires were everywhere, not contained in conduit or cable trays. At one point during the work, a worker
leant on a duct, the cable Both Unity and Activate pleaded not guilty to an offence contrary to section 32 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011. Both were found to be guilty. See More
Are you welding your life away. Occupation as a welder has long been associated with an increase in the risk of lung cancer. This could be as high as 25%–40%
Only in the USA
Knight apparently accused her of wearing clothes that were too tight and revealing, despite the fact that she wore scrubs; and when she made an off-hand comment about her lack of a sex life, he cracked a joke about it being like “having a Lamborghini in the garage and never driving it.” So apparently in Iowa sexual harassment is okay, but being attractive isn’t. If she had been a plain, unattractive lady, could she have applied for a salary increase?. Would the court have granted it?
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using the table. 
rejected by WorkCoverSA, but that decision was overturned later the same year. 
was punctured by a protruding screw and electrical current was conducted through the duct. The
worker 
Melissa Nelson, a married mother who had worked as a dental assistant for 10 years, was by all
accounts a fine employee. She was also – according to her boss James Knight – just far too sexy for him
to resist; so upon urging from his wife, he gave her a pink slip. What’s more, when Nelson tried to sue over
wrongful termination, the courts actually upheld the firing, confirming that she was, in fact, too sexy for
her job. 
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