The Tasmanian government has passed legislation scheduling some explosives as 'security- sensitive dangerous substances' under the Security-sensitive Dangerous Substances Act 2005 (SDSS), tightening the regulations and requiring those with unrestricted access to those products to now obtain SDSS permits.

The Queensland Workplace Health and Safety Regulation 1997 has been repealed and replaced by the Workplace Health and Safety Regulation 2008, removing the rural industry exemption over the next two years and changing the numbering.

The 2008 Australian Freight Industry Awards were held on 13 September, awarding Toll Auto Logistics with the Australian Best Practice Safety Award for its Flatpack 8-Car vehicle transporter innovation.

Metropolitan and regional scrap metal businesses in Western Australia were visited by WorkSafe inspectors as part of a compliance campaign, with 64% of the workplaces visited found to have inadequately guarded machinery.

Booth Transport was convicted and fined nearly $19,000 after a truck driver fell from his tanker at a Loxton winery, two years ago, due to an oversight in safety checks.

The University of Queensland (UQ) has teamed up with the construction and resources industries to develop a world-first construction and mining simulator training program in Brisbane.

A linesman died recently, four days after receiving an electric shock at Croydon in Melbourne’s outer east.

WorkSafe Victoria has issued a plea for employers and workers to take a more active approach to workplace safety.

Legislation to establish Safe Work Australia, the replacement body for the Australian Safety and Compensation Council (ASCC), was introduced into parliament at the end of last week.

The ACTU has an online petition calling on the government to introduce the highest standards of OHS through the harmonisation process currently underway. The petition calls for amendments to legislation to meet the minimum standards detailed in the ACTU OHS Charter.

A Loch Sport sawmill labourer faces the possibility of six months in gaol after pleading guilty to fraudulently obtaining nearly $17,000 in workers compensation payments.

The incidence rate of workplace injuries across NSW is below the national average, according to the ASCC's 10th Comparative Performance Monitoring Report for 2006–07.

New Zealand’s Department of Labour recently put out a call to businesses to take action to make their workplaces safer in order to curb the number of workplace fatalities.

A Victorian County Court Judge has told PaperlinX it had only a "reasonable chance of rehabilitation", after a series of safety failings at its Maryvale Mill in Gippsland led to the death of a worker in 2005.

The Workplace Relations Ministers' Council (WRMC) met in Sydney recently to discuss progress in the Workplace Relations Bill, OHS harmonisation, Comcare, removal of the ASCC, industry awards and the 457 Visa Inquiry.