Training group fined $200k for falsified training session times
A registered training organisation and one of it's trainers, who cut training courses short and failed to cover all the requirements of the course has been fined more than $200,000 for OHS breaches.
The assessment of students who attended the two day course were cut short, with each day of the two day course finishing up around lunch time.
The training organisation pleaded guilty to 14 charges under section 153(2) of the Victorian OHS Act, of knowingly producing false or misleading documents while purportedly complying with the OHS Act and Regulations.
WorkSafe said in a statement that "Registered trainers have a legal responsibility and a community obligation to train workers properly and WorkSafe will not tolerate assessors or organisations who cut corners or fail to play by the rules."
Allianz Bully Costs Company $1.4 Million in Damages
In the biggest fine I've come across while working in the OHS space, Allianz has copped an incredible $1.4 million dollar fine in damages to a worker after being found it was liable for the acts of an aggressive and physically abuse manager.
The manager, who previously had been employed by the Australian Army, had stated that he was "brought in to kick [the workers] in the head" after the collapse of the HIH Insurance Group. Additionally, he had frequently engaged in verbal abuse, yelling and berating workers, as well as physically abusing them, including a case where the manager shoulder charged the employee and another where the manager hit him on the back of his head hard so that his head nearly hit his computer keyboard.
The court found that the employee developed post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, resulting in a whole person impairment of 22 per cent from the managers bullying and harassment throughout 2003 and 2004.
Allianz is liable for the managers behaviour, despite not directing him to behave in a such a manor directly, they did advise him that his only goal was "the improvement of the business" and to that end he could act as he saw fit.
