Five things employers should do following a workplace accident
It is something every employer dreads; a workplace accident which causes injury to one of their employees. Don't let it happen to you.
5 ways your safety culture could impact the outcome of a common law claim
By BTLawyers Long gone are the days when workers wore sneakers and singlets to work sites, hard hats were optional, and workers could be left in charge of machinery without thorough safety training. Instead you’ll now be hard-pressed to find [...]
Eyes Wide Shut: Employer’s liability and management of employee fatigue
You’ve got an employee who’s just finished working four straight days of 12-hour shifts. He lives five hours away. At the end of his last shift, he elects to drive home. Three hours into his journey he falls asleep [...]
Drug testing employees? Make sure you’ve got a policy in place.
You suspect one of your staff members is regularly turning up to work affected by their drug intake. Or there’s been an incident at work, and an investigation has uncovered that the staff member involved was impaired by alcohol at the time. What do you do?
Out Cold: How sporting clubs should manage the health and legal risks of concussions
As the NRL season in Australia kicks off for another year, there is one thing that we can be guaranteed to see on the field several times before the season ends – players experiencing a concussion.
How FIT is your OHS System?
I frequently encounter businesses that are overwhelmed by never-ending obligations to comply with occupational health and safety (OHS) requirements in the workplace. Whether it be statutory obligations or contractual conditions imposed by business partners, the task of ensuring the OHS [...]
What should employers do about EBA’s in the absence of Australian Industrial Relations reform?
By John Salter “We would have liked to have seen a more ambitious agenda by the government over the last three years on industrial relations, there’s no doubt about that.” This is a quote from Jennifer Westacott, Chief Executive of [...]
What should you do when an employee goes AWOL? It’s not as straightforward as you might think.
By John Salter One day Mary doesn’t show up to work. You don’t hear from her to say that she’s sick, has an injury, or giving any explanation for her absence, and it’s out of character for her to not [...]
Insights into Better Thinking: An interview with Peter Addison about Bunnings National Safety Strategy
By BTLawyers Australia’s most popular weekend destination might be best known by the general public as the best place to get a sausage sizzle and where “lowest prices are just the beginning”, but behind the closed roller doors of Bunnings [...]
Employers: there’s a 1 in 4 chance your female staff members are experiencing domestic violence at home.
By John Salter and Vanessa Hernandez Domestic Violence Awareness Month may be over, but the drive to improve responses to it in the workplace are just beginning. This week, a full bench of the Australian Work Commission is sitting in [...]