Zenergy Take 5: WHS News – Week of 16 November 2026
Welcome to this week’s Zenergy Take 5 — five things worth your attention across workplace health and safety, workers compensation and people and culture, plus one senior role we’re recruiting right now. Deadlines and celebrations this week: the workplace exposure limits switch-over is a fortnight away, and the profession’s best were honoured at the national WHS awards — which Zenergy was proud to sponsor.
1. Safe Work Australia rewrites 15 Codes of Practice ahead of the WEL deadline
On 12 November, Safe Work Australia published revised versions of 15 model Codes of Practice, updating them for the transition from workplace exposure standards (WES) to workplace exposure limits (WEL). The revised codes span asbestos management and removal, respirable crystalline silica, hazardous chemicals, safety data sheets and labelling, demolition, excavation, abrasive blasting, spray painting and powder coating, welding, confined spaces, noise, healthcare and social assistance, and general WHS risk management.
The substance of the updates is terminology and signposting: references to the old WES are replaced with the WEL list, and each code now points to newly published air monitoring guidance. The WEL list commences on 1 December 2026; until 30 November, the current WES list remains the legal benchmark. From 1 December, duty holders must ensure no one at the workplace is exposed to an airborne contaminant above its WEL.
One caveat: model codes only take effect in each state or territory once adopted, and the WEL list must be picked up in each jurisdiction’s WHS laws — so check where your regulator stands. Our deep-dive this week unpacks what HSE leaders should do in the final fortnight.
Read Deep Dive Article HERE
Source: Safe Work Australia, media release and revised model Codes of Practice, 12 November 2026 — safeworkaustralia.gov.au
2. Key dates: the AIHS WA Symposium headlines a busy fortnight
The Australian Institute of Health and Safety’s 2026 WA Symposium runs in Perth this Friday, 20 November — the flagship WA gathering for the profession. Earlier in the week, two timely AIHS webinars are worth an hour: AI and the Future of WHS (Tuesday 17 November, presented with MinterEllison) and Hot Takes: Heat Stress — Fact, Fiction and Failure (Wednesday 18 November), well timed as summer heat plans get dusted off.
Further out, the AIHS ACT Safety Breakfast lands on 27 November, alongside state networking events in Tasmania and NSW.
3. People and culture: $6.8m psych claim fails as court finds a “personality clash”, not bullying
HR Daily reports that a court has rejected a $6.8 million damages claim brought by a “difficult employee” over alleged workplace bullying, finding the conflict between the manager and their supervisor was “a mutually driven personality clash” rather than bullying — and ordering the unsuccessful claimant to pay costs.
For employers, the decision is a reminder that interpersonal conflict and reasonable management action are not, of themselves, bullying — and that contemporaneous records of how concerns were raised and managed are what carry the day in court. It cuts the other way too: unmanaged conflict is still a recognised psychosocial hazard, and the cheapest time to deal with it is long before anyone briefs a lawyer.
Source: HR Daily, “‘Difficult employee’ loses $6.8m psych claim, with costs” (subscription) — hrdaily.com.au
4. National recognition: the 2026 Australian Workplace Health and Safety Awards winners
The winners of the 2026 Australian Workplace Health and Safety Awards (AWHSA) were announced at the annual gala in Sydney on Thursday 12 November, following a record 200 entries and 52 finalists across nine categories. Woolworths Group’s Acts of Violence and Aggression (AOVA) Squad was named WHS Team of the Year after reducing severe incidents in high-risk stores by 59 per cent and helping pioneer Workplace Protection Orders to keep repeat offenders out of stores.
Louise Belcher (bp Australia) and Andrew Pachioli (ADCO Constructions) took the WHS Leader of the Year honours, Skilltech’s Dylan Cubitt was named WHS Rising Star, and Paul Cooper of Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service was recognised as HSR of the Year — with Vodafone, Brisbane Catholic Education, the Jemena/Zinfra Group and BMD Group winning the training, wellbeing, return-to-work and innovation categories. “Every Australian has the right to go to work and come home safely,” AIHS CEO Julia Whitford said. “These awards recognise the people and teams working hard to make that happen.”
Zenergy was a proud sponsor of this year’s awards — congratulations to every finalist and winner. The full winners list, and the themes running through the winning work, are in our second deep-dive this week.
>>> Full List of Winners <<<
5. Industry story: $150,000 fine after labour-hire worker paralysed in tree-cutting fall
A construction company has been fined $150,000 after a labour-hire worker was left a paraplegic by a fall at a Carrum Downs site in Melbourne’s south-east. In March 2024, the worker — an experienced carpenter, not a qualified arborist — was asked to remove a large gum tree branch so trucks could access the site. Working from a 3.7-metre A-frame ladder to cut the six-metre branch with a chainsaw, he fell headfirst when the branch swung down and struck the ladder, dislocating his spinal column.
The company pleaded guilty at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court to failing to provide or maintain a safe system of work and failing to prepare a safe work method statement for high-risk construction work, and was fined $150,000 plus $13,335 in costs. WorkSafe Chief Health and Safety Officer Sam Jenkin said the worker’s life “has been forever changed”, and that WorkSafe “will continue to prosecute employers who fail to address this well-known hazard.”
The enduring lesson sits upstream of the ladder: matching the task to a person actually competent to do it. Asking a carpenter to do an arborist’s job — without the planning document that would have forced the question — is where this incident was really decided.
Source: WorkSafe Victoria, “Company fined after worker paralysed in tree-cutting fall”, 13 November 2026 — worksafe.vic.gov.au
★ Featured role: General Manager Health and Safety
We’re recruiting a General Manager Health & Safety - an opportunity to lead the safety function with a national technical and facilities services provider. With branches in every state and territory, they deliver essential maintenance and services across commercial, government, healthcare, education, mining and marine sectors
The role:
• Lead the development and governance of the occupational safety framework and set company-wide standards
• Oversee critical safety controls, lead incident investigations and use safety data to drive decisions
• Engage regulators and industry bodies, and mentor the HSE team
What you’ll bring:
• Significant HSE leadership experience in high-risk industries
• Tertiary qualifications in OHS, occupational hygiene or a related field (postgraduate regarded)
• Strong stakeholder, root-cause analysis and coaching skills
What’s on offer: $270,000 - $320,000 Melbourne Victoria
Apply via www.zenergygroup.com.au/job-results or contact Joanne Retalick on
0482 076 255 for a confidential chat.
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