In brief - Businesses' safety procedures should reflect updated codes
On 1 April 2016, the 23 codes of practice made under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Cth) were revoked and remade as separate instruments. As the codes are admissible in court proceedings as evidence of whether or not a duty or obligation under the WHS Act has been complied with, businesses would be wise to ensure that their safety management systems are up to date with these codes.
Minor revisions to seventeen of Safe Work Australia's codes of practice
The codes of practice, developed by Safe Work Australia, are practical guides to achieving the standards required under the WHS Act. The following is a list of the 23 codes:
- Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work (revised and updated)
- Hazardous Manual Tasks (revised and updated)
- Confined Spaces (revised and updated)
- Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces (revised and updated)
- Preparation of Safety Data Sheets for Hazardous Chemicals (revised and updated)
- Labelling of Workplace Hazardous Chemicals (revised and updated)
- How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace (revised and updated)
- How to Safely Remove Asbestos (revised and updated)
- First Aid in the Workplace (revised and updated)
- Construction Work (revised and updated)
- Preventing Falls in Housing Construction (revised and updated)
- Managing Electrical Risks at the Workplace (revised and updated)
- Managing the Risks of Plant in the Workplace (revised and updated)
- Welding Processes (revised and updated)
- Excavation Work (revised and updated)
- Demolition Work (revised and updated)
- Spray Painting and Powder Coating (revised and updated)
- How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks
- Managing the Work Environment and Facilities
- Work Health and Safety Consultation, Co-operation and Co-ordination
- Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace
- Safe Design of Structures
- Abrasive Blasting
Prior to the revocation, the 23 codes were contained within two instruments, being the Work Health and Safety Codes of Practice 2011 (Cth) and the Work Health and Safety Codes of Practice 2012 (Cth). The codes have now been remade as 23 separate instruments, with the content of the codes remaining largely unchanged save for minor revisions to 17 of the codes in order to remedy small technical and drafting errors.
In the Explanatory Statement issued by Minister for Employment, Senator the Honourable Michaelia Cash, it was stated that the revocation and remaking of the codes as separate instruments has been done to "improve accessibility of the codes on the ComLaw website and streamline the process for making future updates to the codes."
Codes may be used in court as evidence of non-compliance with WHS Act
As the codes of practice have been revoked and remade under the Commonwealth WHS Act, the remade codes apply to Commonwealth authorities and to corporations licensed to self-insure under the Comcare workers' compensation scheme. In addition, businesses that contract to a Commonwealth authority and work at their workplace may also be required to comply with the codes.
If an incident does occur on your worksite and a prosecution results from the investigation, the codes will be admissible in proceedings as evidence of whether or not a duty or obligation under the WHS Act has been complied with.
The court may regard the codes as evidence of what is known about a hazard or risk, risk assessment or risk control to which the codes relate and may rely on the codes in determining what is reasonably practicable in the circumstances to which the codes relate.
An inspector can also refer to a code of practice when issuing an improvement notice or prohibition notice.
States and territories expected to bring codes into line with the Commonwealth
We expect that the states and territories will assess the amended codes of practice and move to revoke and remake their codes to align with the changes made at the Commonwealth level.
Ensuring that your safety management system is current with the updated codes of practice will demonstrate that you are taking all reasonably practicable steps to manage safety in your business.
Greg McCann
Employment and safety
Colin Biggers & Paisley
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.