Safe Work Australia released the draft model Regulations in December 2010 for public comment. The twelve primary Codes of Practice have also been released for review.
The draft model Regulations and Codes are available on the Safe Work Australia website:
www.safeworkaustralia.gov.auDraft model regulations
The draft model Regulations are designed to complement the model Workplace Health and Safety Act and are certainly more comprehensive than those in force in any jurisdiction at present and comprise 550 pages of regulations including matters relating to:
- Representation and participation
- General workplace management
- Hazardous work
- Plant and structure
- Construction work
- Hazardous chemicals
- Licensing of asbestos removalists and assessors
- Major hazard facilities.
There is a chapter relating to Mines (except coal) that is still under consideration at this time.
Draft Codes of Practice
Twelve Codes of Practice have been released for public comment. More are planned to be released as they are finalised.
The Codes are designed to be mandatory instructions, unless another method of work provides an equivalent or higher standard of care. However in this respect, the onus will be on the person undertaking the business or undertaking to be in a position to establish such a fact.
There are three Codes designed to be applicable to all workplaces:
- How to manage work health & safety risks
- How to consult on work health & safety
- risks
- Managing the work environment and facilities.
An additional nine Codes have been released for specific tasks:
- Facilities for construction sites
- Managing noise and preventing hearing loss at work
- Hazardous manual tasks
- Confined spaces
- How to manage and control asbestos in the workplace
- How to prevent falls at workplaces
- How to safely remove asbestos
- Labelling of workplace hazardous Chemicals
- Preparation of safety data sheets for hazardous chemicals.
In some respects, the Codes adopt the elements of Australian Standards. However, there are areas where the Codes are different and in the submissions lodged to date, there has been particular interest in the apparent tension between some Australian Standards and the draft Codes.
However, as the draft Codes are intended to be mandatory in their application to work methods, it is imperative that any person working in the work activities to which they will be applied take the time to review the draft Codes and, if appropriate, provide comment on any aspect.
Lodgement of submissions
Public comments can be lodged on the Safe Work Australia website and can be made privately if necessary. We can assist clients with submissions.
Next steps
After consideration of any public submissions, Safe Work Australia will meet and finalise the model Act, Regulations and Codes in June 2011.
Each jurisdiction will then have six months to finalise the exact wording of the Act, Regulations and Codes before the commencement date of 1 January 2012.
Therefore, there will be a very short timeframe for all persons conducting a business or undertaking to implement management systems to comply with the new framework.
Businesses should be presently working to ensure they have adequate resources to undertake this process as there seems to be no suggestion of a moratorium on the implementation of most of the key changes.
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.
