Health and safety harmonisation

The Queensland Parliament passed the Workplace Health and Safety Act 2011 (New Act) on 27 May 2011 as part of its commitment to participate in the harmonisation of workplace health and safety laws across Australia. The New Act will take effect from 1 January 2012.

With both financial penalties and maximum jail terms for officers and individuals to be dramatically increased under the New Act (including a maximum penalty of $3 million), it’s vital that business owners become familiar with their obligations under the New Act.

Although the duty in the New Act removes the strict liability encompassed in the current legislation, persons conducting a business or undertaking will have an obligation to ensure, so far as ‘reasonably practicable’, the health and safety of workers and others who may be affected by the carrying out of work.

Importantly, the New Act expands the definition of ‘worker’ to include labour hire workers, contractors and subcontractors. This marks a major change for businesses in Queensland and broadens the scope of workplace health and safety obligations for those who are conducting a business in a very significant way.

The New Act also places very broad due diligence obligations on ‘officers’ (as defined under the Corporations Act 2001), requiring them to be on top of safety in the workplace. This includes having up-to-date knowledge of health and safety matters; having an understanding of hazards and risks associated with the operations of the business; ensuring appropriate resources are available for use to eliminate or minimise risks from work carried out; ensuring appropriate processes for obtaining information about incidents, hazards and risks; and ensuring processes for complying with duties are implemented, e.g. reporting, consultation arrangements, training and instruction.

Key Point: The New Act will see Queensland businesses having to take a more proactive approach in administering their workplace health and safety obligations. The changes also bring much tougher penalties demonstrating that meeting workplace health and safety obligations has never been more important.