Workplace Health and Safety 2012
Until now the Commonwealth, States and Territories have been responsible for making and enforcing their own health & safety laws, and although there are similarities with these laws there are differences that can cause confusion.
As a part of National reforms workplace health & safety laws are changing so as to ensure uniformity in legislation, regulations and codes of practice. It is expected that these changes to workplace health & safety will commence on 1 January 2012.
Safe Work Australia is the independent body that has been charged with progressing these new laws in partnership with State & Territory Governments and the objects of harmonising work health safety laws through a model framework are:-
- to protect the health and safety of workers
- to improve safety outcomes in workplaces
- to reduce compliance costs for business, and
- to improve efficiency for regulator agencies.
The key elements to this legislation include:-
- a primary duty of care requiring persons conducting a business to, so far as is reasonably practicable, ensure the health and safety of workers and others who may be affected by the carrying out of work,
- duties of care for persons who influence the way work is carried out, as well as the integrity of products used for work,
- reporting requirements for ‘notifiable incidents’ such as the serious illness, injury or death of persons and dangerous incidents arising out of the conduct of a business or undertaking,
- a framework to establish a general scheme for authorisations such as licences, permits and registrations (e.g. for persons engaged in high risk work or users of certain plant or substances),
- provision for consultation on work health and safety matters, participation and representation provisions
- an entry permit scheme that allows authorised permit holders to: inquire into suspected contraventions of work health and safety laws affecting workers who are members, or eligible to be members of the relevant union and whose interests the union is entitled to represent, and consult and advise such workers about work health and safety matters.
Of course this new legislation will have an affect on the way the organisation conducts its business, so the challenge will be for the management team to see the implementation of the new Workplace Health & Safety Act as a change program.
This change provides the platform for improving the organisations health & safety systems…and with change comes an opportunity to reinvigorate and/or enhance the Company’s culture of safety too!