Case studies
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Employers need to enforce workers to wear PPE
Tomkins v Kemp Meats Pty Ltd [2013] QDC 184 17 July 2013. For employers, the case serves as an important reminder on the need to enforce the requirement for workers to wear personal protective equipment.
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Transit Australia Group
Through the IPaM program, Transit Australia Group identified strategies to improve safety and reduce associated costs and impacts on the business.
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Relationship between two separate injuries
Hartin v Rigel Constructions Pty Ltd [2013] QSC 320 21 November 2013. The case turned upon the extent to which the first incident caused the derangement of the vertebral disc, and the relationship between the injury sustained in the first and second incident, and the loss and damage caused by the first incident.
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Employers must provide safe work system
Caird v State of Queensland, 30 July 2004. Negligence in enforcing a safe system of work can result in substantial compensation, regardless of the significant long term effects. An abattoir case study.
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No obligation to warn of obvious risk
Heywood v Commercial Electrical Pty Ltd [2013] QSC 52, 11 March 2013. The duty imposed on employers is to take reasonable care to avoid injury to workers. An employer does not have an obligation to avoid all risks by all reasonably affordable means. The obviousness of the risk and a reasonable expectation that workers will take care of their own safety must be taken into account.
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Prior injuries and future economic loss
Symons v The Haggarty Group Pty Ltd, 23 March 2011. This case study highlights how the court may consider if there was a reasonable way the employer could have avoided the risk of injury, and how this may affect the outcome.
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Employer not negligent in worker injury
Campbell v Galaxy Plumbing [2013] QSC 315 18 November 2013. There was no evidence that the task was so physically demanding that it could not be performed by one man who was also carrying out a variety of other jobs. The employer’s failure to provide more labourers was not negligent.
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Connecting safety and culture - getting started: Carlton & United Breweries (CUB), Yatala
At CUB Yatala Brewery, safety leadership starts at the top and is visible at all levels of the company. Key components of the company’s approach are an authentic value around safety, employee engagement, and integration of safety into business practice.
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Queensland Museum Network: Health and wellbeing at work
The Queensland Museum Network (QMN) is a statutory authority of Arts Queensland. It provides museum services throughout the state, employing approximately 315 staff across five sites.
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All known injuries need to be the subject of assessment
Costello v Queensland Rail [2014] QSC 83 16 May 2014 This case provides an analysis of the rights of an individual to damages separate and distinct from their rights under the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003.
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Damages awarded to former mining employee
Martin v Golding Contractors Pty Ltd [2014] QSC 053 27 March 2014. In this case, while liability was admitted, the amount of damages was in dispute.
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Causation is key
Cahill v Bowden 3 February 2015. This case is a reminder of the importance of proving the causal link between the damage suffered and the alleged negligence of the defendant. It is not enough to show there was an act or omission by an employer and that there was injury. The act or omission must have caused or materially contributed to the injury.