Home

About the new legislation


 

Overview

In August 2008 the Legislative Assembly passed a new Work Safety Act 2008.  The new Act will replace the existing Occupational Health and Safety Act 1989 on 1 October 2009.  The Occupational Health and Safety Act 1989 will therefore cease to have effect from midnight on 30 September 2009.

As with the OHS Act 1989, the new legislative regime comprises 3 formal elements with a fourth, non-legislative element sitting below that.  These are:

  1. the principal Act, the Work Safety Act 2008, which takes effect from 1 October 2009
     
  2. the Regulations that sit below the principal Act, namely the Work Safety Regulation 2009
     
  3. Codes of Practice


  4. National and Australian Standards
     
  5. Guidance Material.  

The Act sets out the overall framework for work safety and a range of duties designed to ensure work safety, health and wellbeing.

The Regulation spells out minimum standards for the duty holders to ensure work safety in relation to specific hazards and risks (such as the performance of manual tasks).  Regulations have the force of law and MUST be adhered to.  Failure to comply may result in a criminal penalty or an infringement notice.

Codes of Practice provide practical guidance on how to comply with legal duties.  Codes have formal status, allowing courts to consider whether a Code has been complied with in deciding whether legal duties have been met.  The steps set out in a Code are not compulsory, but you should follow the Code or an equivalent [or better] alternative.

National Standards and National Codes of Practice are developed by Safe Work Australia and its predecessors (NOHSC, ASCC).  These, as well as ACT developed Codes of Practice are often declared to apply in the ACT.  They are then legally enforceable.  Australian Standards are separate technical guides which may also assist a person to comply with a particular work safety duty.

The Work Safety Act 2008 has brought health and safety laws in the ACT into the Twenty-First Century.  Key features include:

  • an expanded definition of "worker" to include more than just employees, e.g. contractors, volunteers, etc.
  • explicit reference to the "wellbeing" and the "psychological needs" of workers
     
  • explicit inclusion of upstream duty holders amongst those with safety duties
     
  • continuation of the emphasis on employers (or those who engage workers in the conduct of a business or undertaking) as the primary safety duty holder
     
  • that duty is, as far as is reasonably practicable, to provide a safe workplace and a safe systems of work
     
  • the primary means of providing a safe working environment is through eliminating or managing risk - the importance of risk is highlighted by the inclusion of the 'hierarchy of control' in the principal act
     
  • employers must consult with workers to allow them to contribute directly to the management of risk and creation of a safe working environment.

 

Regulations 

Below the principal Act sit regulations, which provide further details regarding obligations in respect of a range of specific matters.  Under the Work Safety Act 2008, it is expected that all regulations will be brought together into one single regulation - the Work Safety Regulation.

Phase One of this work has led to the new Work Safety Regulation 2009.  The new regulation takes effect from 1 October 2009.

Matters covered in the Work Safety Regulation 2009 include:

Other relevant Acts and their associated regulations are listed below.  The Scaffolding and Lifts Act 1912 and the Machinery Act 1949 are expected to be brought in under the Work Safety Regulations as part of Phase Two during 2010.  The Magistrates Court Regulation 2004 is currently being re-written to synchronise with the new Work Safety Act and associated regulations. 

Scaffolding and Lifts Act 1912

Scaffolding and Lifts Regulation 1950 

Machinery Act 1949

Machinery Regulation 1950 

Magistrates Court (Occupational Health and Safety Infringement Notices) Regulation 2004

 

Approved Codes of Practice

Approved Codes of Practice offer practical examples of good practice.

They give advice on how to comply with the law by, for example, providing a guide to what is ‘reasonably practicable’ in particular circumstances. For example, if regulations use words like ‘suitable and sufficient’, an Approved Code of Practice can illustrate what this requires in relation to a specific kind of activity, such as providing first aid facilities for workers, or in respect of smoking in the workplace.

Approved Codes of Practice have a special legal status. If employers are prosecuted for a breach of health and safety law, and it is proved that they have not followed the relevant provisions of the Approved Code of Practice, a court may find them at fault unless they can show that they have complied with the law in some other way.

All of the existing Codes of Practice have been extended for 12 months from 1 October 2009.  A list of the Approved Codes of Practice for the ACT and access to the content of the codes can be found on the Office of Regulatory Services ACT WorkCover website or by clicking on the above link.

However, during that 12 month period, the existing codes will need to be re-written to mesh with the terminology and content of the new Act and Regulations.  This task will be carried out by the Office of Regulatory Services during that period.

Guidance Material

The ACT Work Safety Commissioner, like ACT WorkCover, publishes guidance on a range of health and safety subjects.

Guidance can be specific to the health and safety problems of an industry, or to a particular process used in a number of industries, or to a hazard or process which may be common across several or all industries.

Guidance Material is not law, though it can help explain the law. The main purposes of guidance are:

  • help people to understand what the law says
  • help people understand how to comply with the law
  • provide technical advice on specific issues of concern. 

Following guidance is not compulsory and employers are free to take other action. In many cases, however, if they do follow the guidance provided they will be doing enough to comply with the law.

Important guidance material relating to the new Work Safety Act available for download now includes the following:

A Quick Guide to the new Work Safety Act 2008
Workplace Arrangements - A Quick Guide
Workplace Arrangements - A Detailed Guide
Volunteers
Safe Design - Safe Structures, Systems and Workplaces
   Construction Induction Training
   High Risk Licensing

Further material provided by the Work Safety Commissioner is available from the Publications tab on this site.

Guidance material provided by the ACT's Office of Regulatory Services (formerly ACT Workcover) can be accessed by clicking on this link. The Office of Regulatory Services also provide a range of OHS Information Bulletins

 

Information regarding the new Act and what's different from the old Act

To find out more about the new Work Safety Act 2008, particularly in comparison to the previous OHS Act 1989, click on any of the following links:
 

Full text of the legislation - the old and the new

THE OLD

THE NEW
Occupational Health and Safety Act 1989 Work Safety Act 2008
 Regulations

Work Safety Regulation 2009
 Codes of Practice The Codes of Practice to apply under the new Act are currently being reviewed.

  

What's different about the new Act?

 

1. Meaning of the term worker
 		 information sheet   frequently asked questions
2. Approach to risk management
 		 information sheet   frequently asked questions
3. Consultation
 		 information sheet   frequently asked questions
4. Right to prosecute
 		 information sheet   frequently asked questions
5. Workers' right to refuse
 		 information sheet   frequently asked questions
6. Objects of the Act
 		 information sheet    frequently asked questions

 

Clickable links to the information sheets and frequently asked questions about the above topics will be made available as they are developed in the coming months.

 

Where do I go to get more information?

If you would like to know more about the new Act you should contact either the Office of the Work Safety Commissioner or the Office of Regulatory Services.

The Office of the Work Safety Commissioner can be contacted in the following ways:

The Office of Regulatory Services can be contacted in the following ways:

 

What training or information sessions are available about the new legislation?

A series of free public information sessions about the new legislation are scheduled to be provided by this office in the coming months. 

Click here for more information regarding these sessions. 

You can download the PowerPoint presentation (1.3MB) from the above sessions by clicking here.

 

Feedback and/or suggestions for additional information

Should you feel that there is some aspect of the changes to the Act and/or the supporting legislation that is not covered adequately here, or should you simply have a comment to make about the above information, please contact the Office of the Work Safety Commissioner.

The Office of the Work Safety Commissioner can be contacted in the following ways:

 


Copyright Statement | Privacy Statement | Disclaimer | Contact Us