Work health and safety
The purpose of the Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act 2011External Link (WHS Act) is to secure the health and safety of workers and workplaces.
The WHS Act adopts a broad definition of worker to recognise the changing nature of work relationships and to ensure health and safety protection is extended to all types of workers. The term 'worker' also includes volunteers.
PCBU stands for 'person conducting a business or undertaking'. The term PCBU has replaced and expands the term employer. The WHS Act assigns the primary duty of care to a PCBU to ensure the health and safety of workers.
As a Tax Help volunteer your PCBU would be the Tax Help centre you are working from.
Workers
A worker includes:
- staff
- contractors and their staff
- sub-contractors and their staff
- outworkers for example, home based
- apprentices
- work experience students
- trainees
- volunteers.
Volunteers
Volunteer means a person who is acting on a voluntary basis (irrespective of whether they receive out-of-pocket expenses). The WHS Act specifically protects volunteers in their capacity as workers and ensures that volunteers are not discouraged from participating in community-based activities.
What you should be doing as a worker
W – Work with your manager and colleagues. Talk about finding solutions to health and safety problems. Consultation and communication is a key part of the WHS laws.
O – Ownership starts with you, including for your own health and safety and those matters within your control or ability to influence.
R – Regularly communicate and report on health, wellbeing and safety issues. Contribute to providing quality information that targets prevention and better practice initiatives.
K – Keep yourself accountable as an individual to improve the culture of health and safety within the workplace.
E – Ensure health and safety becomes everyday business by talking about it with colleagues. Prevention and working together are still basic concepts under the WHS legislation.
R – Reinforce and influence safety behaviours in the workplace consistently. Remember to report incidents and check you understand the process of reporting them within the organisation.
Your legislative obligations
As a worker, you have a duty to take reasonable care for your own health and safety while at work, ensuring that your acts or omissions don't adversely affect the health and safety of other persons. Your duty of care is considered in relation to what is reasonably expected, taking into account the degree of control you have over your work activities and work environment.
Obligation to follow instructions
As well as your duty to take reasonable care, you must comply with any reasonable instruction that is given to you that allows your PCBU to comply with the WHS laws.
As a worker you must cooperate with any reasonable policy or procedure relating to health and safety that you have been trained in or notified about by the PCBU.
Legislative obligations of other people
Other people at the workplace – for example, visitors or clients, also have a duty to take reasonable care for their own and others' health and safety at the workplace.
They must also take reasonable care that their acts or omissions don't adversely affect the health and safety of others and comply with any reasonable instruction that allows the PCBU to comply.
How to meet your duties
Your responsibilities to meet your duties include:
- Duty to take reasonable care for your health and safety while at work
- Ensure your conduct does not adversely affect the health and safety of others
- Comply with any reasonable instruction as far as you are able
- Consultation, representation and participation
- Cooperation and consultation
- Health and safety representation
- WHS Act overview
- Reporting incidents
Duty to take reasonable care for your health and safety while at work
This includes following information, training or instructions provided by the PCBU.
Ensure your conduct does not adversely affect the health and safety of others
Your duty includes taking reasonable care that your acts or omissions don't adversely affect the health and safety of others. For example, report a slip or trip hazard in a foyer that, if left unattended, could injure a visitor, client or a colleague.
Remember, visitors and clients must also comply so far as they are reasonably able to, with any reasonable instruction given by the PCBU. This ensures the PCBU is complying with the WHS laws. An example is a visitor or client displaying bullying behaviour affecting the health and safety of a colleague.
Be proactive in recognising potential hazards in the workplace. Don't wait until an incident has occurred to report it. If you are involved in, or witness an incident in the workplace, it needs to be reported to your manager as soon as possible after it occurs. This will help the PCBU to meet their notification duties as required by the WHS Act.
Comply with any reasonable instruction as far as you are able
Your manager may ask you to follow certain work health and safety instructions to ensure the PCBU complies with the WHS laws. In addition to cooperating, you can also contribute to health and safety policies and procedures by giving feedback when asked, offering ideas for improvement and working as a team in implementing good workplace safety practices.
Consultation, representation and participation
As a worker, you directly face the hazards of a job and often have valuable knowledge, expertise and the motivation to improve health and safety.
This puts you in a unique position of being able to influence the health and safety standards while at work.
Cooperation and consultation
One of the objectives of the WHS Act is to foster a cooperative, consultative relationship between the PCBU and workers on your health, safety and welfare at work.
The PCBU must ensure consultation occurs when you are, or could be, affected by matters relating to work health or safety.
You have a responsibility to participate in this consultation and comply with policies or procedures put in place for your health and safety.
Consultation and communication is a 2-way street. Remember, the policies you follow must be reasonable and you only need to comply with these policies as far as you are reasonably able.
Health and safety representation
Get to know the health and safety representative (HSR) in your Tax Help centre. HSRs have broad powers under the WHS Act to promote the health and safety of workers in their work group. Your HSR is your main point of contact regarding health and safety matters, so make sure you tell them about any concerns or safety issues.
HSRs can help because they:
- understand your views and concerns
- are trained in work health and safety and how to represent you
- coordinate a formal approach to raising ideas and concerns through appropriate channels
- have rights and powers to take action.
WHS Act overview
The WHS Act aims to meet its objective in securing the health and safety of its workers and workplaces through the elimination and minimisation of risks. The WHS Act also aims for fair and effective representation, consultation and cooperation.
Reporting incidents
If an incident involving yourself or your client occurs while you are holding Tax Help interviews, it is important that you report it to the centre Tax Help coordinator and Tax Help as soon as practicable. Note the details of incidents for future reference.
Return to: Tax Help program training.