Chapter heading 1

Tas Tasmania

Tas Act Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 (Tas)

Tas Review Safe from Injuries and Risks to Health: Review of Workplace Health and Safety in Tasmania – 2006 Interim Report (2007)

UK United Kingdom

UK Act Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (UK)

Vic Victoria

Vic Act Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic)

Vic Administrative Review A Report on the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 – Administrative Review (2007)

WA Western Australia

WA Act Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984 (WA)

WA Review Final Report: Review of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1984 (2006)

WRMC Workplace Relations Ministers’ Council

Preface

OHS regulation affects every workplace in Australia and aims to prevent workplace death, injury and disease. The OHS legislative framework must provide an effective foundation to achieve the ongoing improvements nationally agreed to in Australia’s National OHS Strategy and must be capable of doing so in a rapidly changing world of work.

The legislative framework must also reflect Australia’s commitment to the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Occupational Safety and Health Convention 1981 (C155).¹ Our recommendations take account of Australia’s obligations under C155 and are consistent with the ILO’s 2003 Global Strategy on Occupational Safety and Health.²

Our terms of reference reflect the principles of harmonisation, including enhanced health and safety standards, greater regulatory efficiency and effectiveness, more certainty for duty holders and the elimination of unnecessary regulatory compliance burdens.

The review provides an opportunity to create legislation which clarifies the roles of various parties and accommodates changes in the nature of work, to ultimately improve OHS outcomes in workplaces across Australia.

In conducting this review, we have been guided by the scope and principles set out in the terms of reference. We are required to make our recommendations in two stages, to allow matters critical for harmonisation to be considered by the Workplace Relations Ministers’ Council (WRMC) as a matter of priority.

Our first report focuses on the priority areas specified in clause 12 of our terms of reference:

1. 
   duties of care, including the identification of duty holders and the scope and limits of duties; and
   
2. 
   the nature and structure of offences, including defences.
   

Our second report is to be provided to the WRMC by 30 January 2009. It will cover other matters relevant for a model OHS Act. These are specified in clause 13 of our terms of reference.

In combination, the two reports will provide all our recommendations for the optimal content of a model Act.

It is therefore important to consider the reports together in order to gain a better understanding of the overall balance of our proposals. We aim to assist all interested persons to achieve the best OHS results when the proposed model Act is implemented. We consider that the model Act should build on the successful approach of supporting a continuum of methods for achieving the best OHS results. Overall, these will range from facilitating voluntary co-operative measures to ensure a safe and healthy working environment through to effective means of compelling compliance with the statutory obligations. Many provisions of the model Act will be complementary and inter-related, both as a result of this approach and for technical reasons. For example, the second report is to contain recommendations regarding the scope and coverage, including definitions, of a model Act, which are also essential for the duties of care and offences.

We have conducted extensive consultations in each jurisdiction, attending over 80 meetings. In the course of these meetings we spoke to more than 260 individuals representing over 100 organisations, including regulators, union and employer organisations, industry representatives, legal professionals, academics and health and safety professionals. We also received 243 written submissions providing a rich source of ideas and information.

Throughout the consultation process, we invited stakeholders to express their views in a forthright and constructive manner. The well-considered responses and enthusiastic support for our review are proving to be invaluable in shaping our recommendations.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the many representatives of various organisations and the individuals who took the time to meet with us and provide submissions during the Review. Due to time constraints, we regret that we have not been able to provide more detailed information about the content of the submissions in this report. However, we strongly recommend that all interested persons refer to the submissions which can be found on the review website at: www.nationalohsreview.gov.au

The number of submissions received exceeded our expectations and highlights the importance for all concerned in achieving uniform OHS laws across Australia that lead to better OHS outcomes.

We also wish to record our appreciation for the valuable assistance and co-operation provided by the secretariat in the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR).

Summary

The main aim of OHS legislation is to protect the health and safety of persons at work or affected by work. OHS legislation should be designed to facilitate, support and secure that protection.

Our first report focuses on the priority areas in clause 12 of our terms of reference, being:

1. 
   duties of care, including the identification of duty holders and the scope and limits of duties;
   
2. 
   the nature and structure of offences, including defences.
   

The protection of health and safety should be enabled by statutory duties of care and other obligations, which are imposed on those who cause work to be performed and contribute to the processes and means for work to be undertaken.

Our first report has five parts. Our recommendations relating to the optimal content of a model Act commence in Part 2. In each chapter, we examine the current arrangements in OHS laws, highlighting areas of inconsistency. We also refer to the submissions we received and the comments and advice provided to us during consultation. We then discuss the options and our reasons for making our recommendations, and note any related areas that will be the subject of our second report. A table of our 75 recommendations, identified by Part and chapter, follows this summary and should be read with it.