The new Work Health and Safety Act & Regulations 2011 replaced all individual State and Territory (except Victoria and WA) OHS legislation, and was implemented Australia-wide. It's a Harmonisation program nationally.
The previous OHS legislation was seen as obsolete for a number of reasons.
So what exactly does this mean for business?
In short, you will have to adjust to a new set of safety duties and responsibilities, and when this happens, business needs to know & align to the new WHS laws. Its now Criminal Law.
The WHS Act & Regulations 2011 are no small change.
According to law firm Mallesons Stephen Jaques, "the harmonisation of occupational health and safety laws will result in significant change to the regulation of workplace safety in Australia."
Here are just a few examples of the changes you will have to deal with …
You must adjust to a completely new set of safety obligations – If you are an ‘officer’ of a company (i.e. a director or manager), the new WHS Act obligates you to exercise ‘due diligence’ at all times.
This means you have a legal responsibility to keep informed about health and safety matters, and act immediately on any WHS risks that are brought to your attention. In other words, if you want to avoid prosecution, you will have to work harder than ever to stay on top of your health and safety obligations.
You are responsible for the health and safety of a lot more people – The new WHS Act places a requirement on anyone who conducts a business or undertaking to provide a safe workplace for all workers.
Under the new Act, the definition of both ‘worker’ and ‘workplace’ has been broadened; most notably to include contractors, volunteer organisations and labour hire workers. In short, this means your duty of care will expand significantly.
It is now, much more complicated to consult with your employees about OHS – Under the new WHS Act, you have a legal duty to consult with employees and other workers about health and safety matters in a very particular way.
You will need to abide by new restrictions and consequences for discriminatory conduct – The new WHS Act allows for a discrimination case to be a criminal prosecution, and also enables employees to seek civil action for damages.
You will have to comply with expanded union right of entry provisions – The new laws not only give unions the power to investigate workplace safety incidents: they will also allow them to advise and consult with your employees about WHS matters.
There are many more changes you will have to adjust to – I just don’t have the time or the space to list them here.
Under the previous Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000, the maximum penalty for an individual in NSW was 5 years in prison or fines of up to $150,000. A corporation could face fines of up to $1,500,000.
But under the new WHS Act, corporations in NSW face fines of up to $3 million per offence, while individuals face fines of $600,000 or 5 years in jail.
OHS Safety First can make this easy as we recommend a 3 phase plan:
We conduct an OHS Management System AS/NZS 4801 – 4801 Audit of your business. This audit provides you with a GAP Analysis that clearly identifies where you need to change & improve under the WHS Act & Regulations.
We visit each site & audit the safety system – not the company or people so all are comfortable with what we do… and its confidential.
We develop a WHS GAP plan specifically designed for your business to fill the Gaps
We work with you on a weekly basis to implement the plan and, additional to the Audit & Gap Plan, we deliver a self-declaration compliance to AS/NZS 4801- 2001
We can also offer a WHS Management System that brings you up to date with the new guidelines in terms of Return to Work (RTW) and injury management, guaranteed to reduce your Workers Compensation Insurance costs.
We are your on-tap resource and our approach has been designed specifically for busy managers just like you who want to protect your employees and ensure their workplaces are free of risks to health and safety.
What we offer:
Save time: OHS Safety First has information on hundreds of different OHS / WHS issues, all in one place – so whenever a sticky situation arises, you can deal with it and get on with your day, safe in the knowledge that you're fully covered by the law.
Save money – we offer value for money fees and savings by avoiding the most common OHS traps that trip employers up with the help and advice of Australia's top safety experts
Avoid hassle: never worry about spending hours trying to understand complex WHS legislation.
Act confidently when a safety incident occurs in your workplace. OHS Safety First will guide you – every time, and in any workplace situation.
We co-write your policies, Risk Register, and
- Work Health and Safety Policy
- Incident Investigation Form
- Pre-Purchasing and Receipt Checklist
- Safe Work Method Statements SWMS and or Safe Operating Procedures (SOPS)
- Electrical Equipment Register
- Hazardous Manual Tasks (Manual Handling) Risk Assessment
- Personal Protective Equipment Policy
- Plant Hazard Checklist
- Bully/Harassment Policy
- Training and Induction Records
- Inspection and Audit process
- Compliance Review
When you appoint OHS Safety First, you'll get free unlimited access to our safety experts.
Whenever you are having a safety issue at work – no matter how small it may be – and you need to be absolutely sure about the action you need to take, just call me on 0437 273 657.
It doesn't matter what section of WHS legislation your question relates to – or how insignificant you think it is you'll know you can deal with your issue with 100% confidence.
