“It is not against the law to injure people.” It sounded absurd when I first heard it at inspector school. Then I understood the point: WHS and OHS legislation generally regulates duties, risks and breaches, not simply injury outcomes.

Painting and Blasting Industries had procedures, inspections and an external WHS consultant, but an unguarded conveyor remained accessible to workers. The NSW Industrial Court decision provides a strong lesson about guarding, isolation and whether safety audits are actually finding critical hazards.

A $90,000 asbestos prosecution shows why identifying ACM is only the start. From a supermarket cleaner’s room to Defence facilities covered in asbestos warning stickers, the real test is whether hazard information changes the work before somebody drills, cuts or demolishes the material.