11 April 2011
Safe Work Australia Chair, Mr Tom Phillips AM, today said the objective of the harmonisation process is not to reduce the size of Work Health and Safety regulation but to ensure uniform safety standards are in place in each jurisdiction throughout Australia. This is consistent with the requirements of the Inter-Governmental Agreement for Regulatory and Operational Reform in Occupational Health and Safety.
“This exercise is about harmonisation and putting everyone on the same page, it is not rationalisation or reform,” said Mr Phillips.
The content of the draft WHS Regulations are based on existing Work Health and Safety Regulations in each of the nine jurisdictions all of which vary in length, detail and matters covered.
Many chapters of the draft WHS Regulations address hazards such as noise, confined spaces and falls, or specific industries such as construction, major hazard facilities or diving. Businesses will not need to be familiar with all the regulations, only those relevant to their business.
For national businesses, familiarity with only one set of work health and safety regulations will be easier than needing to know the nine sets that currently exist. For these businesses, thousands of pages of regulations and rules will be replaced by the draft WHS Regulations which are currently approximately 580 pages.
The model WHS Regulations need to ensure effective safety standards and protections for all Australian workers without being overly prescriptive. It is not the number of pages or size that is important, but whether the model WHS Regulations will contain sufficient guidance to duty holders to ensure the health and safety of Australian workers.
As part of the recent public comment process on the model WHS Regulations, a number of submissions raised concerns about the length and level of prescription in the draft regulations. Safe Work Australia specifically sought comment on the level of prescription and the impact of the model WHS Regulations on business as part of this process.
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