Common Sense Prevails at Fair Work Australia

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In a decision which will bring comfort to employers, Fair Work Australia (FWA) has found that employees should not have to be taught ‘common sense’ in finding that the dismissal of an employee was not unfair.

What happened?

The employee was a production worker at a carpet tile manufacturing plant. The employee claimed that shortly after starting work, a colleague told him that he could climb into a compactor used to push down carpet off-cuts. The employee stated that he had received no formal training on the use of the compactor and it was common practice for employees to climb into the compactor. Further, the compactor had no signage prohibiting employees from climbing into the compactor.

In November 2010, the employee spoke to an OHS training group who were observing operations at the plant. The employee asked the trainer whether the group was doing an OHS course. When the trainer replied that they were, the employee climbed into the compactor and started to jump up and down. The employee told the group that he was on the OHS Committee and laughed and giggled while waving his arms about without hanging on to the edges of the compactor.

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