New Work Health and Safety Laws

Ai Group is pleased to offer members a series of business videos and webinars providing information on the implications of the new Work Health and Safety (WHS) laws. These informative videos have been designed to provide you with a practical understanding of the requirements of the new WHS Act and Regulations and to assist you with useful advice on how to maximise the opportunities provided by these new laws.

All Australian Governments have committed to adopting these new harmonised WHS laws and many of them are well progressed for the target implementation date of 1 January 2012.

If the laws are implemented in your state/territory on 1 January 2012, you need to act fast to understand and comply with your obligations. If you operate in one of the delayed jurisdictions, many of the requirements within the Act and Regulations can be applied now, enhancing the management of health and safety in your business.

New Work Health and Safety laws - The obligations of officers Webinar

This webinar is designed to inform officers, and those advising officers, of some key issues they need to be aware of in ensuring compliance with the new WHS laws, including defining who is an officer, the duties of officers to exercise due diligence, as well as an outline of the new WHS laws. This webinar will also be relevant to officers in the "delayed" jurisdictions as officers already have potential liabilities under current laws and exercising due diligence can help to protect officers from this liability.

Please note that this webinar has been split into 5 parts for ease of viewing. However, it is designed to be viewed as one webinar and should be watched in its entirety. Begin watching the webinar by clicking on the links below.

Part 1 - Introduction to officer duties - 9:35 mins

Part 2 - Officer building blocks of due diligence - 14:56 mins

Part 3 -Resources and verification - 6:44 mins

Part 4 - Enforcement options - 4:37 mins

Part 5 - Further guidance and information - 3:29 mins

New Work Health and Safety laws - Business Videos

The role of unions under the new Work Health and Safety Laws - 7:28 mins

The WHS Act establishes that a WHS entry permit holder (who must be an official of a union) may enter a workplace for the purposes of either "inquiring into a suspected contravention" or to "consult and advise" workers in relation to health and safety.

Other parts of the Act establish how a union official may become involved in WHS issues in relation to work groups, health and safety representatives and issues resolution.

If you have active union involvement in your workplace, it is essential that you understand the rights and responsibilities of WHS entry permit holders when they attend your site. In addition to watching this video, we strongly recommend that you read Part 7 of the Act in detail and access Ai Group's fact sheet on this issue.

New Work Health and Safety Laws - Consultation, Cooperation and Coordination - 6:24 mins

The new WHS Act recognises that there is often more than one duty holder involved in managing health and safety risks. Where this is the case, to effectively manage these overlapping responsibilities the Act creates an obligation for duty holders to, so far as is reasonably practicable, consult, cooperate and coordinate activities with all other duty holders.

This video will provide information to assist you on how to meet these obligations and adopt effective consultation, cooperation and coordination processes in the workplace.

New Work Health and Safety Laws - Risk Management - 6:17 mins

When considering risk management, the new WHS legislation imposes an obligation on organisations to eliminate or minimise risk so far as reasonably practicable. This video will highlight the obligations under the legislation in minimising risk and also discusses the risk management processes that should be adopted.

New Work Health and Safety Laws - Consultation and Issue Resolution - 6:51 mins

The new WHS laws include an obligation on organisations to consult with workers when making a decision, or taking any action, which may have an impact on the health and safety of those workers. Consultation requirements are designed to help organisations meet their obligation to eliminate or minimise risks so far as is reasonably practicable. This video will outline these obligations as well as procedures that must be adopted in relation to issues resolution.

New Work Health and Safety Laws - Health and Safety Representatives and Committees - 6:12 mins

The new WHS laws enable workers to request the election of health and safety representatives (HSRs) and for HSRs or 5 workers to request the establishment of a health and safety committee (HSC). This video will outline the implementation and responsibilities of both HSRs and HSCs and their roles and powers under the legislation.