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Consultation

The following information is published to provide industry with an overview of the changes to work health and safety laws.

Under the new laws, business operators have a duty to consult with any other business operator who has the same duty in any situation, and to consult with workers, provide them with relevant safety information, give them a reasonable opportunity to express their views, raise WHS matters and contribute to decision making on:

A code of practice on consultation will accompany the new laws.

The new laws require all business operators to develop an issue resolution process in consultation with their workers. If no process is developed, the new laws set out a default process. The parties must make reasonable efforts to achieve resolution of the issue in accordance with the agreed or default procedure.

If resolved, details must be set out in writing and communicated to workers and the health and safety representative (HSR).

If not resolved, any party to an issue may request the assistance of any other person, who can enter the workplace for the purpose of assisting in resolving the issue. If the request is for a union official to assist, the union official does not require a right of entry permit. If an issue still remains unresolved, either party may ask the regulator to appoint an inspector to attend the workplace to assist.

There are often situations where more than one business or undertaking operates at a workplace and where people share responsibility for work health and safety to varying degrees, for example shopping centres, construction projects, labour hire, multi-tenanted office buildings.

The new WHS Act requires that where more than one person has a duty for the same matter, each person retains responsibility for their duty in relation to the matter and must discharge the duty to the extent to which the person can influence and control the matter [s.16].

In these situations, the new WHS Act requires that each person with a duty must, so far as is reasonably practicable, consult, cooperate and coordinate activities with all other persons who have a work health or safety duty in relation to the same matter [s.46].

Since you cannot transfer your responsibilities to another person under the new WHS Act, the requirement to consult, cooperate and coordinate activities with other duty holders will help you meet your primary duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, so that workers and other persons are not put at risk from work carried out as part of your business or undertaking.

For example, you may not need to provide toilet facilities for your workers if they are already available, but you need to check that those facilities are in good working order, clean and accessible. Consultation, cooperation and coordination between you and the person providing those facilities will help you ensure that the necessary steps are being taken so that you can meet your duty.

The duty requires persons conducting businesses and undertakings to work together in a proactive and reciprocal way, so that all risks associated with the activity that they are involved in are eliminated or minimised as far as is reasonably practicable.

For more information

Part 5 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 sets out requirements for person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs) to consult with their workers in the establishment of health and safety representatives and committees and what the roles of these positions involve.

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