January 21, 2024
WHS Obligations for Officers and Senior Managers
Officers and Senior Managers have specific duties under the work health and safety (WHS) laws. The role and influence you have in the business determines if you are an “Officer”. This will be different for each person and for each business.
.Are you the owner or operator of a small business?
.Do you make big decisions about all or part of the business?
.Can you affect the financial standing of the business?
If you have answered yes to any of these, you may be an Officer and have an obligation under the WHS laws to demonstrate a proactive approach to managing WHS in your workplace.
Officer WHS Duties
As an Officer you must exercise due diligence to ensure your business meets its WHS duties. This includes:
.Making sure your workers and others are protected against harm, and
.Making sure your business has suitable safe work systems in place.
How you can meet your duty as an Officer?
As an Officer it is important you:
.Keep your WHS knowledge current.
.Know your business WHS hazards and risks.
.Ensure your business is properly resourced to manage WHS risks and check that resources are being used.
.Ensure that the business has reporting processes for incidents, hazards and other WHS issues and check that these processes are being followed.
If you do not meet your duties?
If you do not meet your duties as an Officer, you could be prosecuted. This can happen even if there are no incidents in your workplace.
If you want more information, please call us on 0400 088 627
