The Workplace Safety & Health framework
The three guiding principles that underpin the new Workplace Safety & Health framework are:
- Reducing risks at source by requiring all stakeholders to eliminate or minimise the risks they create;
- Instilling greater ownership of safety and health outcomes by industry; and
- Preventing accidents through higher penalties for poor safety management
About the Workplace Safety & Health Act
The Workplace Safety and Health Act is an essential part of the Workplace Safety and Health framework. The Act has four key features:
- It places the responsibility for workplace safety on all stakeholders along lines of control at the workplace
- It focuses on Workplace Safety & Health systems and outcomes, rather than merely on compliance
- It facilitates effective enforcement through the issuance of remedial orders
- To prevent accidents at the source, it issues higher penalties for non-compliance and risky behaviour.