Health and Safety Duties in Australia

Summary

In this 5-minute safety video, Michael Terry from Momentum Safety and Ergonomics discusses health and safety duties under Australia's Work Health and Safety Act. The video outlines the responsibilities of three key players: businesses, officers, and workers. Businesses must ensure a safe working environment, officers must exercise due diligence, and workers must act safely and not adversely affect others. Penalties for non-compliance vary based on the severity of the risk and the recklessness of the offender.

Takeaways

• 📚 The video discusses health and safety duties under the Work Health and Safety Act in Australia.
• 🏢 Key players with duties include businesses or undertakings, Officers, and workers.
• 👷‍♂️ Businesses must ensure a safe working environment and comply with health and safety standards.
• 🛠️ Safe plant and structures, systems of work, and processes for handling chemicals are part of business duties.
• 📋 Businesses are also responsible for providing training, welfare facilities, and health monitoring.
• 👔 Officers must exercise due diligence, which includes understanding health and safety risks and ensuring resources and processes are in place.
• 👷 Workers are responsible for their own health and safety and must not adversely affect others' health and safety.
• 📜 Workers must comply with reasonable instructions, policies, and procedures provided by the business.
• 💡 The video highlights the importance of understanding and fulfilling individual roles in maintaining a safe workplace.
• ⚠️ Penalties for non-compliance vary based on the seriousness of the risk and the recklessness of the offender.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the 5 Minute Safety video series?

The main focus of the 5 Minute Safety video series is to tackle important health and safety topics in a concise manner, aiming to cover them within approximately 5 minutes.

Which Act does the video discuss regarding health and safety duties in Australia?

The video discusses the Work Health and Safety Act in Australia, which outlines the health and safety duties for various parties involved in the workplace.

What are the three main players identified in the Work Health and Safety Act?

The three main players identified in the Act are the business or undertaking, the Officer of the business or undertaking, and the workers.

What is the primary duty of a business or undertaking under the Act?

The primary duty of a business or undertaking is to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health and safety of its workers.

What are some specific duties of a business or undertaking as mentioned in the video?

Specific duties include providing a safe working environment, maintaining safe plant and structures, implementing safe systems of work, handling chemicals and substances appropriately, providing information and training, and ensuring welfare facilities for workers.

What does the term 'Officer' refer to in the context of the Work Health and Safety Act?

An 'Officer' refers to individuals who have significant influence over the running of the business, as defined under the Corporations Act.

What are the due diligence duties of an Officer under the Act?

An Officer must acquire and maintain appropriate knowledge of health and safety and the risks within the company, provide necessary resources, establish information gathering systems, and ensure processes are implemented and verified through audits.

What is the responsibility of workers under the Work Health and Safety Act?

Workers are responsible for taking reasonable steps to ensure their own health and safety and to ensure their actions do not adversely affect the health and safety of others, as well as complying with reasonable instructions, policies, and procedures.

What are the potential penalties for non-compliance with health and safety duties?

Penalties for non-compliance can vary and are categorized into three levels based on the seriousness of the potential risk or injury and the level of recklessness. Penalties can include fines and potential jail time, depending on whether the offender is a company, an officer, or an individual.

How does the video summarize the key takeaways regarding health and safety duties?

The video summarizes that businesses must ensure the health and safety of workers, Officers must exercise due diligence, and workers must ensure their actions do not adversely affect the health and safety of others and comply with reasonable policies and procedures.

Outlines

00:00

🔍 Overview of Work Health and Safety Duties in Australia

Michael Terry from Momentum Safety and Ergonomics introduces the 5 Minute Safety video series, focusing on health and safety duties under the Work Health and Safety Act in Australia. The video discusses three main parties with responsibilities: the business or undertaking, the Officer of the business, and the workers. The business must ensure the health and safety of its workers as reasonably practicable, which includes providing a safe working environment, maintaining safe plant and structures, implementing safe systems of work, handling chemicals appropriately, offering adequate information and training, and ensuring welfare facilities and health monitoring. Officers are required to exercise due diligence, which involves understanding health and safety risks, providing resources, and ensuring processes are in place and verified through audits. Workers are obligated to take reasonable steps for their own health and safety and to ensure their actions do not adversely affect others. Non-compliance can result in penalties categorized into three levels based on the severity of the risk and the recklessness of the offender, with varying consequences for companies, officers, and individuals.

05:07

📚 Key Duties and Compliance for Businesses, Officers, and Workers

This paragraph emphasizes the key duties for businesses, Officers, and workers under Australian work health and safety legislation. Businesses are primarily responsible for ensuring the health and safety of their workers to the extent that is reasonably practicable. Officers, who have significant control over the business, must exercise due diligence, which includes understanding the health and safety profile of the company and ensuring appropriate resources and verification processes are in place. Workers are expected to act in a manner that does not negatively impact the health and safety of others and to comply with reasonable workplace policies and procedures. The video concludes with a reminder that there will be links to more detailed information on the duties of each party in the final slide and thanks the viewers for their attention.

Keywords

💡Work Health and Safety Act

The Work Health and Safety Act is a piece of legislation in Australia that governs the responsibilities of businesses and individuals to ensure a safe and healthy work environment. It outlines the duties of various parties, including businesses, officers, and workers, and sets the framework for managing health and safety risks. In the video, this Act is central to understanding the legal obligations that must be met to prevent work-related injuries and illnesses.

💡Business or Undertaking

A 'business or undertaking' refers to the entity conducting work or activities, which includes companies and other organizations that are not strictly business-oriented, but excludes volunteer associations that do not employ people. In the context of the video, the business has a primary duty to ensure the health and safety of its workers, which involves providing a safe working environment, maintaining safe plant and structures, and establishing safe work procedures.

💡Officer

An 'Officer' of a business or undertaking is an individual who has significant influence over the management of the business, as defined by the Corporations Act. The video emphasizes that officers have a personal duty of due diligence under the Work Health and Safety Act, which includes understanding the health and safety risks within the company and ensuring that appropriate measures are in place to manage these risks.

💡Workers

Workers encompass all individuals engaged in work for a business, including middle management and those with supervisory roles, as well as other employees without supervisory duties. The video highlights that workers have a responsibility to take reasonable steps to ensure their own health and safety and not to adversely affect the health and safety of others, which includes following company policies and procedures.

💡Due Diligence

Due diligence in the context of the video refers to the proactive measures that officers must take to fulfill their duties under the Act. This involves gaining an understanding of the health and safety risks, ensuring resources are provided, and verifying through audits or other means that health and safety processes are effectively implemented. It is a critical concept as it outlines the personal responsibility of officers for workplace safety.

💡Risk Assessments

Risk assessments are systematic evaluations of potential hazards in the workplace to determine how likely they are to occur and the severity of their consequences. The video mentions that businesses must have safe systems of work, which includes conducting risk assessments to identify and manage hazards effectively. This process is vital for preventing accidents and ensuring a safe work environment.

💡Safe Work Procedures

Safe work procedures are standardized practices or protocols designed to minimize the risk of injury or illness in the workplace. The video stresses that businesses have a duty to establish these procedures as part of their commitment to health and safety. Examples include guidelines for handling hazardous materials or operating machinery safely.

💡Welfare Facilities

Welfare facilities refer to the amenities provided by a business to support the well-being of its workers, such as clean drinking water, restrooms, and appropriate rest areas. The video mentions that businesses must provide appropriate welfare facilities as part of their health and safety duties, which contribute to the overall comfort and health of employees.

💡Monitoring

Monitoring in the context of the video involves the ongoing observation and evaluation of workplace conditions and the health of workers to identify and address potential safety issues. Businesses are required to have systems in place for monitoring, which may include regular inspections, health checks, and surveillance of work practices to ensure compliance with safety standards.

💡Penalties

Penalties in the video refer to the legal consequences, including fines and potential jail time, for non-compliance with the duties outlined in the Work Health and Safety Act. The severity of penalties is categorized into three levels based on the seriousness of the risk or injury and the degree of recklessness. These penalties serve as a deterrent and enforce the importance of adhering to health and safety regulations.

💡Reasonable Steps

Reasonable steps are actions that a person or business is expected to take to ensure health and safety, based on what is practicable and sensible in the circumstances. The video explains that both workers and businesses must take reasonable steps to protect health and safety, which could include following safety instructions, using personal protective equipment, or investing in safety training.

Highlights

Introduction to the 5 Minute Safety video series by Michael Terry from Momentum Safety and Ergonomics.

Focus on health and safety duties under the Work Health and Safety Act in Australia.

Three main players with duties: the business or undertaking, Officers, and workers.

Businesses must ensure health and safety of workers so far as reasonably practicable.

Duties of businesses include providing a safe working environment and maintaining safe plant and structures.

Safe systems of work and risk assessments are part of the business's health and safety duties.

Businesses are responsible for appropriate processes to handle chemicals and substances.

The necessity for an appropriate information, training, and instruction regime.

Provision of welfare facilities such as drinking water for workers.

Monitoring workers' health and safety conditions within the business.

Officers must exercise due diligence and have individual duties under the Act.

Officers are required to have knowledge of health and safety risks within the company.

Officers must provide resources and ensure processes are implemented through verification like audits.

Workers are responsible for their own health and safety and must not adversely affect others.

Compliance with instructions, policies, and procedures is mandatory for workers.

Penalties for non-compliance are categorized into three levels based on risk and recklessness.

Maximum penalties are outlined but rarely applied, depending on the entity's role.

Summary of key duties for businesses, Officers, and workers under Australian work health and safety legislation.

Final slide of the video provides links to more detailed information on the discussed duties.

Transcripts

Hi, and welcome to our 5 Minute Safety video series.

My name's Michael Terry, I'm from Momentum Safety and Ergonomics, and in this series we try and

tackle important health and safety topics, and we try and get it done in about 5 minutes.

Today we're going to be tackling health and safety duties

under the Work Health and Safety Act in Australia.

This video is a follow-up from the work health and safety legislation video

that we covered previously.

OK, I think there are three main players in the game when it comes to those who have duties under the Work Health and Safety Act.

Those players as are firstly the business or undertaking itself, this is going to include your company,

but may also include other non-business type undertakings.

It does not include volunteer associations that are 100% volunteer associations, and don't employ any people.

The second player is the "Officer" of the business or undertaking, and this is defined as

those who have significant influence over the running of the business,

and is actually defined under the Corporations Act. And the third player are the workers, and this will include middle management or those

who have supervisory capacity, but also other workers who don't have that type of capacity.

So jumping straight in, the first player was the business or undertaking,

and the business itself has specific duties for health and safety,

and these are to ensure so far as reasonably practicable,

the health and safety of its workers. Now that's a very general statement, and the Act goes on to give us a bit more

information about what that might include. So it includes things like making sure we have a safe working

environment. That you have safe plant and structures such as good maintenance.

Safe systems of work, such as good risk assessments, and safe work procedures.

We have appropriate processes to handle chemicals and substances. That you have an appropriate information and training and

instruction regime, which will include our induction and training systems.

That we have appropriate welfare facilities for workers, such as appropriate drinking water, all simple stuff like that. And that we have

ways of monitoring workers health and the business conditions, or the safety conditions within the business itself.

Those are the key duties for the business or undertaking.

Now the Officer themselves also have specific duties under the Act,

and these duties are defined as due diligence, they have a specific definition.

They are individual duties, and an officer themselves can be held individually liable for not complying with them.

Those duties include appropriate knowledge of health and safety and of the risks

and hazards within your own company. So you've got to understand the health and safety profile of your own company.

You must have appropriate actions in place which include

providing apppropriate resource, appropriate information gathering systems, and making sure

through appropriate verification, such as audits that these

processes are being implemented into the workplace.

All these things are individual actions for Officers.

Now the third player was the worker, and every worker must make sure they take reasonable steps to ensure their own health and safety.

But they also must take reasonable steps to ensure their acts or omissions, or

their conduct does not adversely affect the health and safety of someone else.

This is particularly relevant if you're a supervisor or manager and your actions directly

control the way another person might act. Workers themselves must

comply with appropriate instructions and policies and procedures,

as long as they're reasonable, and as long as they have been notified about them.

There are penalties associated with non- compliance for these duties, and these penalties have three different categories.

We won't go into them in a lot of detail, but Category 1 is the highest, and Category 3 is the lowest.

They depend on the seriousness of the potential risk, or injury,

but also how reckless it is perceived that the individual or company was.

Also, it will depend on whether you're a company, an officer or individual as to what the fine may be, or what the potential jail time might

be as well. Now keep in mind the information on this slide is maximum penalties, and these are rarely applied.

So there we go. A very quick summary of the health and safety duties under the Australian work health and safety legislation.

Key takeaways are that we have key duties for businesses, Officers and workers.

Every business must ensure the health and safety of its workers, so far as reasonably practicable.

That's the key overarching duty of them all. If you're an Officer within the business,

(i.e. a person who has significant control) then you must exercise due diligence.

And if you're a worker you must make sure that your actions

don't adversely affect health and safety of others,

and that you comply with reasonable policies, procedures and instructions.

We'll have links to more detail on every one of these duties in the final slide of the video. But other than that, thank you for listening.

This has been our 5 minute health and safety video on work health and safety duties within Australia.