WorkSafe

A transport and logistics company has been fined $625,000 (and ordered to pay more than $8000 in costs) over the serious injury of a worker in 2021.

Toll Transport Pty Ltd pleaded guilty to failing to provide and maintain a safe workplace and, by that failure, causing serious harm to the worker, and was fined in the Perth Magistrates Court on October 3.

In January 2021, the injured worker was employed as a forklift driver at Toll Transport’s premises at Perth Airport. Having returned from work after a shoulder injury, he was on light duties.

WorkSafe has discontinued prosecution of the Department of Justice in relation to the psychological injury of a former prison officer at Bunbury Regional Prison.

The decision not to proceed was made on the basis of fresh evidence obtained in the course of the proceedings.

The department had been charged with failing to provide and maintain a safe work environment and, by that failure, causing serious harm to a worker.

Finalists in the prestigious Work Health and Safety Excellence Awards 2025 have been decided, with the winners to be announced at Optus Stadium on October 28.

WorkSafe has received a record 138 submissions for this year’s Awards, a more than 50 percent increase on last year, and the judging panel has chosen 42 finalists in the five categories.

The five Award categories are:

An underground mining contractor was today fined $540,000—and ordered to pay $8,414 in costs—after an October 2022 rock fall in a ventilation shaft at the Hamlet Underground Gold Mine near Kambalda, which killed a driller and injured a probationary offsider.

A meat processing co-operative has been fined $785,000 (and ordered to pay more than $5700 in costs) over the death of a worker at a Katanning abattoir in 2022.

Western Australian Meat Marketing Co-operative Ltd (WAMMCO) pleaded guilty to failing to provide and maintain a safe work environment and, by that failure, causing the death of a worker and was fined in the Albany Magistrates Court yesterday.

WorkSafe is investigating the work-related death of a man on a mine site near Wiluna in Western Australia’s Goldfields-Esperance region this morning. 

WorkSafe investigators from Perth and WorkSafe Mines Safety inspectors from Kalgoorlie will attend the site, which is 900 kilometres north-east of the State capital. They will arrive tomorrow. 

WorkSafe investigators examine the circumstances surrounding incidents to ensure compliance and prevent future occurrences of a similar nature. 

A mining fabrication company has been fined $500,000 (and ordered to pay more than $6500 in costs) over an incident in which a worker was seriously injured by a falling metal plate.

G & G Mining Fabrication Pty Ltd pleaded guilty to failing to provide and maintain a safe work environment and, by that failure, causing serious harm to a worker and was fined in the Midland Magistrates Court today.

In August 2021, a boilermaker was employed at the company’s workshop in Hazelmere where mining and earthmoving equipment was manufactured, including heavy excavator buckets.

A construction company has been fined $250,000 (and ordered to pay more than $6000 in costs) after the death of a 19-year-old worker in 2021.

PAWS Construction and Maintenance Pty Ltd pleaded guilty to failing to provide and maintain a safe workplace and was fined in the Fremantle Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

In November 2021, a PAWS Construction employee died after suffering a traumatic head injury when he was struck by a sea container drawbridge ramp weighing around 250kg. At the time he was assisting his supervisor to lower the ramp.

Big Bell Gold Operations Pty Ltd was today fined $945,000 and ordered to pay $20,000 in costs after a truck fatally struck a worker at its Big Bell underground gold mine near Cue in Western Australia’s Mid West. 

WorkSafe temporarily shut down a Western Australian open-pit iron ore mine after a routine safety inspection in July 2025 uncovered inadequate emergency response capabilities. 

Inspectors from WA’s workplace health and safety regulator issued a notice prohibiting the operation of the mine’s heavy vehicles and limiting the movement of its light vehicles after they found the site—located more than 100 kilometres from the volunteer-staffed nearest responding agency—had no mobile plant and vehicle rescue equipment and minimal apparatus to deal with any emergency situation.