Work health and safety in the Commonwealth jurisdiction, with the evidence for every duty.

A person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of the workers it engages or whose work it influences or directs while they are at work, and that other people are not put at risk by its work. This includes a safe work environment, safe plant, structures and systems of work, the safe use, handling and storage of plant, structures and substances, adequate welfare facilities, the information, training, instruction and supervision needed to protect people, and monitoring workers' health and workplace conditions. A self-employed person must ensure their own health and safety at work.

s 19(1)–(5)

Each officer of a PCBU must exercise due diligence to ensure the PCBU complies with its WHS duties. Due diligence includes reasonable steps to keep up to date with WHS matters, understand the operations and their hazards and risks, ensure the PCBU has and uses appropriate resources and processes to eliminate or minimise risks, ensure it has processes for receiving and promptly responding to information about incidents, hazards and risks, ensure it has and implements processes for complying with its duties, and verify that those resources and processes are provided and used.

s 27(1), (5)

While at work, a worker must take reasonable care for their own health and safety and that their acts or omissions don't adversely affect others, comply so far as they reasonably can with the PCBU's reasonable instructions, and cooperate with its reasonable health and safety policies and procedures that have been notified to workers.

s 28

Anyone at a workplace, such as a visitor, must take reasonable care for their own health and safety and that their acts or omissions don't adversely affect others, and comply so far as they reasonably can with the PCBU's reasonable instructions.

s 29

A PCBU, or an officer of a PCBU, who has a health and safety duty commits industrial manslaughter if they intentionally engage in conduct that breaches the duty and causes (substantially contributes to) a person's death, and were reckless or negligent about whether it would cause a death. The maximum penalty is 25 years' imprisonment for an individual or $18,000,000 for a body corporate, and there is no limitation period.

s 30A(1)–(2); s 232(2A)

Where more than one person has a duty about the same matter, each of them must, so far as is reasonably practicable, consult, cooperate and coordinate activities with all the others.

s 46

A PCBU must, so far as is reasonably practicable, consult the workers who are, or are likely to be, directly affected by a WHS matter, following any agreed consultation procedures. Consulting means sharing relevant information, giving workers a reasonable opportunity to express views, raise issues and contribute to decisions, taking their views into account, telling them the outcome in a timely manner, and involving their health and safety representative if they have one. It is required when identifying hazards and assessing risks, deciding how to control risks, deciding on welfare facilities, proposing changes that may affect health or safety, and deciding procedures for consultation, issue resolution, monitoring health and workplace conditions, and information and training.

ss 47, 48, 49

A worker may ask the PCBU to facilitate an election of health and safety representatives. The PCBU must then facilitate the determination of work groups by negotiation with the workers, take all reasonable steps to start those negotiations within 14 days of the request, negotiate with a worker's representative if the worker asks, and provide the resources, facilities and assistance reasonably necessary for the election.

ss 50, 51(1), 52(2), (5), 61(4)

A PCBU must establish a health and safety committee within 2 months after being asked to by a health and safety representative, or by 5 or more workers, at the workplace, or when the regulations require one.

s 75(1)

When a WHS issue isn't resolved by discussion, the parties must make reasonable efforts to resolve it in a timely, final and effective way under the agreed issue resolution procedure or, if there is none, the default procedure in the Regulations. The PCBU's representative must not be a health and safety representative and must be senior and competent enough to act. An agreed procedure must include the default procedure's steps, be in writing and be communicated to every worker it applies to.

rr 22, 23 (with Act ss 80(2), 81(2), cited above)

A notifiable incident is the death of a person, a serious injury or illness, or a dangerous incident. A serious injury or illness is one requiring immediate treatment as an in-patient in hospital, immediate treatment for an amputation, a serious head, eye or spinal injury, a serious burn, degloving or scalping, loss of a bodily function or serious lacerations, or medical treatment within 48 hours of exposure to a substance. A dangerous incident exposes someone to a serious risk from an immediate or imminent exposure to such things as an uncontrolled escape of a substance, gas, steam or pressurised substance, an uncontrolled fire, explosion or implosion, electric shock, something falling from height, the failure of plant that must be authorised, or the collapse of a structure, excavation or shoring.

ss 35, 36, 37

A PCBU must ensure Comcare is notified immediately after it becomes aware of a notifiable incident arising out of its business or undertaking, by the fastest possible means, by telephone or in writing. If it notifies by telephone, it must give the details Comcare asks for and, if required, a written notice within 48 hours of that requirement, in the form or with the details Comcare approves.

s 38(1)–(5); s 4 (regulator means Comcare)

The person with management or control of a workplace where a notifiable incident happened must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the site (including any plant, substance, structure or thing involved) isn't disturbed until an inspector arrives or directs otherwise. This doesn't stop action to help an injured person, remove a deceased person, make the site safe or prevent a further notifiable incident, assist a police investigation, or that an inspector or the regulator has permitted.

s 39

A PCBU must keep a record of each notifiable incident for at least 5 years from the day notice of it is given to the regulator.

s 38(7)

A PCBU with a duty to manage risks under the Regulations must identify reasonably foreseeable hazards, eliminate risks so far as is reasonably practicable and, where that isn't possible, minimise them through the hierarchy of control (substitution, isolation or engineering controls first, then administrative controls, then personal protective equipment). It must keep control measures effective and review and revise them when they don't control the risk, before a change likely to create a new or different risk, when a new hazard or risk is identified, when consultation shows a review is needed, or when a health and safety representative asks.

rr 32, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38

A PCBU must manage psychosocial risks (risks from hazards arising from the design or management of work, the work environment, plant, or workplace interactions or behaviours, that may cause psychological harm) under the risk management rules in Part 3.1, and implement the control measures r 55D requires. In choosing control measures it must have regard to all relevant matters, including the duration, frequency and severity of exposure, how hazards interact or combine, the design of work and systems of work, the workplace and any workers' accommodation, workplace interactions or behaviours, and the information, training, instruction and supervision given to workers.

rr 55A, 55B, 55C, 55D

A PCBU must ensure the information, training and instruction it gives a worker is suitable and adequate for the nature of the work, its risks and the control measures in place, and is given, so far as is reasonably practicable, in a way the person can readily understand.

r 39

A PCBU must ensure general construction induction training is given to a worker it engages to carry out construction work who hasn't completed it, or who completed it more than 2 years ago and hasn't done construction work in the past 2 years. It must not direct or allow a worker to carry out construction work unless they have completed the training (and, if it was more than 2 years ago, have done construction work in the past 2 years), and must ensure they hold a general construction induction training card or a certification issued within the preceding 60 days.

rr 316, 317

A PCBU at a workplace must ensure first aid equipment is provided and every worker can get to it, that there is access to facilities for giving first aid, and that an adequate number of workers are trained to give first aid or workers have access to an adequate number of other trained people.

r 42(1)–(2)

A PCBU at a workplace must ensure an emergency plan is prepared for it, providing emergency procedures (an effective response, evacuation, notifying emergency services at the earliest opportunity, medical treatment and assistance, and communication between the emergency coordinator and everyone at the workplace), testing of those procedures and how often, and information, training and instruction for relevant workers. It must maintain the plan so it remains effective, considering the work, its hazards, the workplace's size and location and the people there, and implement it in an emergency.

r 43(1)–(4)

A PCBU at a workplace must ensure a register of the hazardous chemicals used, handled or stored there is prepared, kept at the workplace and kept up to date, listing each chemical with its current safety data sheet, and that it is readily accessible to workers who use, handle or store them and anyone else likely to be affected.

r 346(1)–(3)

A person must not carry out a class of high risk work without the high risk work licence for it, unless an exception applies (such as training towards the licence under a licensed person's supervision). A PCBU must not direct or allow a worker to carry out licensed high risk work unless it sees written evidence that the worker holds the licence (or, for a trainee, written evidence of the training), must not let a worker supervise a trainee without seeing evidence of the supervisor's licence, must keep a record of that evidence for at least 1 year, and must ensure a trainee's supervisor gives direct supervision unless that is impracticable or unnecessary and won't put anyone at risk.

rr 81, 82(1), 84, 85(1)–(4)

A PCBU whose business includes high risk construction work must ensure, before the work starts, that a safe work method statement is prepared (or has already been prepared by someone else). It must identify the work, specify its hazards and risks, describe the control measures and how they will be implemented, monitored and reviewed, take account of circumstances at the workplace and any WHS management plan, and be readily accessible and understandable to the people who use it.

r 299(1)–(3)

The person with management or control of a workplace must ensure an asbestos register is prepared, kept at the workplace and kept up to date. It records asbestos or asbestos-containing material identified or likely to be present (with the date identified and its location, type and condition), or states that none is identified. No register is needed for a building constructed after 31 December 2003 where no asbestos has been identified and none is likely to be present.

r 425(1)–(6)