A fireworks company and its director have been fined a total of $231,000 in the NSW Industrial Court following two explosions at a Leppington fireworks factory in which an employee was seriously injured and another hurt.

WorkCover NSW has announced extra time for holders of old-style equipment and scaffolding licences to convert to the new National Certificate of Competency.

A Sydney company has been convicted in the NSW Chief Industrial Magistrate’s Court of unlawfully obstructing union officials investigating suspected breaches of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000.

Many ACT small businesses have been found in breach of workers compensation, occupational health and safety and dangerous substances laws.

The consumer fireworks sale period commences on Monday 5 June in the lead up to the Queens birthday long weekend on 10, 11 and 12 June.

According to a recent report in the New Zealand Herald, leading car safety advocates have called for the outright ban of lap seatbelts on imported vehi-cles. They also want a campaign to upgrade vehicles already fitted with them.

A company in Seven Hills, Sydney has been fined $220,000 by the NSW Industrial Court following the death of an employee.

WorkCover NSW has appointed one of its most highly experienced senior managers to head the authority's reorganised TestSafe Australia facilities at Londonderry and Thornleigh.

Products for forklifts and other industrial equipment will be released by Dunham Instruments at Matex during National Manufacturing Week, to be held at Sydney’s Darling Harbour from May 30 to June 2.

An explosion and fire at Mascot Airport, which injured a mechanic in 2002, has resulted in a fuel company being fined $150,000 in the NSW Industrial Court.

Omron Corporation and Scientific Technologies have announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Omron will acquire STI for $94 million plus net cash and working-capital adjustments.

WorkCover NSW has issued a reminder to holders of all pre-1996 WorkCover licences to operate equipment and erect scaffolding that the deadline to convert their licences runs out next month (30 June, 2006).

US researchers have provided another reason to encourage workers to improve their health, finding that obese employees are not only more likely to die of a number of causes but also have a higher risk of accidents.The groundbreaking US study involved middle-aged workers employed at Shell Oil Refinery's manufacturing and research facilities. The workers' health data was recorded at the end of 1983 and again 20 years later.

The Federal Government is amending the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) regulations to mandate drug and alcohol testing for all safety sensitive airline personnel, and may also require random testing.

Public comment on the proposed new asbestos safety laws will close on 19 May 2006.