Division 1(1) Employees
An employer must ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of all the employees of the employer.That duty extends (without limitation) to the following:
(a) ensuring that any premises controlled by the employer where the employees work (and the means of access to or exit from the premises) are safe and without risks to health,(b) ensuring that any plant or substance provided for use by the employees at work is safe and without risks to health when properly used,(c) ensuring that systems of work and the working environment of the employees are safe and without risks to health,(d) providing such information, instruction, training and supervision as may be necessary to ensure the employees’ health and safety at work,(e) providing adequate facilities for the welfare of the employees at work.(2) Others at workplace
An employer must ensure that people (other than the employees of the employer) are not exposed to risks to their health or safety arising from the conduct of the employer’s undertaking while they are at the employer’s place of work.Note. See section 12 for the penalty for an offence against this section and other provisions of this Division. Division 4 makes ancillary provision with respect to those offences, including:(a) section 26—liability of directors and managers of corporations,(b) section 28—defence that compliance not reasonably practicable etc.See also Division 2 for duty of employer to consult employees.
9 Duties of self-employed persons
A self-employed person must ensure that people (other than the employees of the person) are not exposed to risks to their health or safety arising from the conduct of the person’s undertaking while they are at the person’s place of work.
10 Duties of controllers of work premises, plant or substances
(1) A person who has control of premises used by people as a place of work must ensure that the premises are safe and without risks to health.(2) A person who has control of any plant or substance used by people at work must ensure that the plant or substance is safe and without risks to health when properly used.(3) The duties of a person under this section:(a) do not apply to premises, plant or substances used only by employees of the person, and(b) do not apply to premises occupied only as a private dwelling or to plant or substances used in any such premises, and(c) extend to the means of access to or exit from a place of work, and(d) apply only if the premises, plant or substances are controlled in the course of a trade, business or other undertaking (whether for profit or not) of the person.(4) In this section, a person who has control of premises, plant or substances includes:(a) a person who has only limited control of the premises, plant or substances (in which case any duty under this section applies only to the matters over which the person has control), and(b) a person who has, under any contract or lease, an obligation to maintain or repair the premises, plant or substances (in which case any duty under this section applies only to the matters covered by the contract or lease).
11 Duties of designers, manufacturers and suppliers of plant and substances for use at work
(1) A person who designs, manufactures or supplies any plant or substance for use by people at work must:(a) ensure that the plant or substance is safe and without risks to health when properly used, and(b) provide, or arrange for the provision of, adequate information about the plant or substance to the persons to whom it is supplied to ensure its safe use.(2) The duties under this section:(a) apply only if the plant or substance is designed, manufactured or supplied in the course of a trade, business or other undertaking (whether for profit or not), and(b) apply whether or not the plant or substance is exclusively designed, manufactured or supplied for use by people at work, and(c) extend to the design, manufacture or supply of components for, or accessories to, any plant for use by people at work, and(d) extend to the supply of the plant or substance by way of sale, transfer, lease or hire and whether as principal or agent, and(e) extend to the supply of the plant or substance to a person for the purpose of supply to others, and(f) do not apply to a person merely because the person supplies the plant or substance in the course of a business of financing the acquisition of the plant or substance by a customer from another person.(3) In this section, manufacture plant includes assemble, install or erect plant.
12 Penalty for offence against this Division
A person who contravenes, whether by act or omission, a provision of this Division is guilty of an offence against that provision and is liable to the following maximum penalty:(a) in the case of a corporation (being a previous offender)—7,500 penalty units, or(b) in the case of a corporation (not being a previous offender)—5,000 penalty units, or(c) in the case of an individual (being a previous offender)—750 penalty units or imprisonment for 2 years, or both, or(d) in the case of an individual (not being a previous offender)—500 penalty units.Note. Section 17 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 provides, at the enactment of this Act, that the value of a penalty unit is $110. Accordingly, the above maximum penalties are as follows:(a) in the case of a corporation (being a previous offender)—$825,000, or(b) in the case of a corporation (not being a previous offender)—$550,000, or(c) in the case of an individual (being a previous offender)—$82,500 or imprisonment for 2 years, or both, or(d) in the case of an individual (not being a previous offender)—$55,000.