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New Occupational Health and Safety Laws
New Occupational Health and Safety Laws
New laws on Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) will come into effect 1st January 2012, as a result of ‘harmonising’ all state legislation into a common federal position. Details are emerging under the ‘Model Work Health and Safety Act.’
The draft regulations cover any person who conducts a business or undertaking (called a PCBU). Workcover advises these also apply to Strata Groups and Community Associations. We are therefore, providing some background information of a general nature (which does not constitute formal legal advice).
For NSW there will be some major changes:
• Innocent until proven guilty. From 1st January the current ‘presumption of guilt until proven innocent’ under Workcover NSW when an accident / incident occurs, will revert to ‘innocent until proven guilty’.
• An increase in fines by 300% to $3 million for a company and $600,000 for individuals per offence. Fines cannot be insured against.
• Jail sentences for offences have increased to a maximum of 5 years.
• The definition of responsibility has been substantially broadened, effectively in both the scope of people the business might have responsibility for and the safety obligations to those people. New terminology has been developed to cover non-employers. From 1st January 2012 the new laws place a requirement on any person who conducts a business or undertaking (called a PCBU) to provide a safe working environment and to take a proactive stance in ensuring that all employees, contractors, labour hire workers etc know how to work safely.
How you may be at risk?
• Employees are deemed to be an ‘officer’ under a broadened definition that increases the burden of liability to any person:(i) who makes, or participates in making, decisions that affect the whole, or a substantial part, of the business of the corporation
or
(ii) who has the capacity to affect significantly the corporation's financial standing.
• PCBUs and officers will have a positive duty to ensure the health and safety of workers, and workers whose activities are influenced or directed by a PCBU, and that their contractors have adequate systems and procedures to ensure the job is carried out safely. The current practice of obtaining a Safe Work Method Statement will no longer be sufficient under the “proactive requirement”, to demonstrate that contractors have adequate systems and procedures to ensure the job is carried out safely.
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