How the legislation works
The Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 (PDF, 766 KB) sets out the laws about the health and safety requirements affecting most workplaces, work activities and specified high risk plant in Queensland. You need to be familiar with the Act in order to understand your obligations and safety requirements.
To make Queensland workplaces healthier and safer, you must fulfil your obligations under the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995.
Read more about the Act, it's purpose and who's covered.
In conjunction with the Workplace Health and Safety Regulation 2008 the Act provides a framework for managing health and safety risks in Queensland workplaces together, they set out legal requirements affecting performance of work that must be followed.
The Workplace Health and Safety Regulation 2008 either prohibits exposure to a risk or prescribes ways to prevent or minimise exposure to a risk. If a regulation exists for specific risks at your workplace (e.g. noise, hazardous substances, underwater diving, high risk plant, confined spaces), in order to meet your obligations under the Act you must do what the regulation says to prevent or minimise the impact of the risk.
Read more about the Regulation.
What you must do
To make Queensland workplaces healthier and safer, you must fulfil your obligations under the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995.
If a regulation exists for specific risks at your workplace, you must do what the Workplace Health and Safety Regulation 2008 says to prevent or minimise the impact of the risk.
If there is a Code of Practice - previously known as an Advisory Standard - about a risk at your workplace, you must either:
- do what the Code says; or
- adopt and follow another way that gives the same level of protection against the risk; and ensure you take reasonable precautions and exercise proper diligence.
If no regulation or code of practice exists about a risk at your workplace, you must choose an appropriate way to manage exposure to the risk, take reasonable precautions and exercise due care.
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