OHS / WHS Law

How health and safety law impacts business.

Officers of organisations are accountable. However, only those people at the most senior levels of organisations who are genuinely in a position to prevent contraventions of the Act will be held to be ‘officers’.

The duty of an officer is to exercise reasonable care. They must use the level of sound judgement, prudent decision-making and taking of action that any reasonable person would, to prevent and reduce hazards and risks to health and safety. (Officers who are volunteers are not liable.)

Officers are people who make, or participate in making, decisions that affect the whole, or a substantial part, of a business.

Those who manage or control a workplace are required to ensure the workplace is safe (so far as reasonably practicable). This may include an employer, the building or site owner and the property management or lessee of a building or site that is a workplace.

No one may put another person at a workplace in danger. It is an offence, without lawful excuse, for any person to recklessly engage in conduct that exposes, or may expose, a person at a workplace to the risk of serious injury.

Employers (Vic) and PCBU’s (Persons conducting a business or undertaking) are accountable

In essence, the workplace environment is to be maintained in a safe and healthy manner…this means, without risk to anyone’s health or safety.