Viewing all articles in "Legislation, regulation and caselaw > WHS Harmonisation (all)" which contains nine sub-topics, select one from the list below to further narrow your browsing.
PCBUs' incident notification duties could soon be amended to capture a much broader range of incidents and require periodic reporting of matters like workplace bullying and traumatic events.
The national model WHS laws have been amended to significantly increase the maximum available fines and jail times, and to clarify the operation of the category-1 offence in a way that is likely to give regulators and prosecutors more confidence to pursue company officers for recklessness or gross negligence.
Safe Work Australia has published a new model WHS Code of Practice for tower cranes, which does not include an explicit ban - recently applied by the ACT - on a hazardous method for lifting loads.
The national model Work Health and Safety Regulations have been amended to expressly ban hazardous work processes and update references to certain Australian Standards.
Harmonised WHS laws and their prescriptive consultation requirements have been in place in most jurisdictions for more than a decade, but there have been few duty-to-consult prosecutions. According to a WHS lawyer, this could be because regulators prefer to conflate consultation failings with more serious breaches to pursue higher penalties.
Six of Australia's eight harmonised jurisdictions have now implemented regulations explicitly requiring PCBUs to tackle psychosocial risks through a risk management process, with the latest, the Northern Territory, choosing to mirror the national model clauses instead of opting for variations adopted by two jurisdictions.
The national model WHS laws will be amended to include the offence of industrial manslaughter with a maximum fine on par with that in the country's only non-harmonised jurisdiction. Australia's WHS ministers agreed to the move yesterday, as well as to crack down on silica risks and explore an import ban on engineered stone.
A range of WHS amendments, including some improving harmonisation, are set to follow the root-and-branch review of SafeWork SA, but they won't include the softening of an entry rule pertaining to health and safety representatives, with the State Government emphatically rejecting a recommendation around this area.
The WHS regulations in Queensland have been amended to improve the harmonisation of Australia's safety laws, while the State has also tightened its "white card" safety training requirements.
