WHS for Health and Safety Committees – NSW Edition
Lesson 1 – Topic 5: SafeWork NSW
The Role of SafeWork NSW
• Providing advice and information
• Monitoring and enforcing compliance with the Act
• Fostering a cooperative, consultative relationship
• Conducting and defending proceedings under this Act before a court or tribunal
Inspectors can be explicitly called into workplaces to help resolve disputed matters.
Penalty Structure (Main Offences & Maximum penalties)
| Category 1 Gross negligence or reckless conduct. Exposes an individual to risk of serious injury or death. Conducts with gross negligence or is reckless. |
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| Category 2 Failure to comply with a health and safety duty. Exposes an individual to risk of serious injury or death. |
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| Category 3 Failure to comply with a health and safety duty. |
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Categories 1 & 2 apply when the person has a duty under the WHS Act and fails to comply with that duty. This failure then exposes an individual to a risk of death or serious injury. In other words, these penalties may apply even if NO injury or death has occurred.
For a category 1 (Gross negligence or Reckless Conduct) to apply, the person exposed an individual to a risk of serious injury or death and engages in the conduct with gross negligence or, without reasonable excuse, was reckless in doing so. An example may be when a manager requires an operator to operate an excavator with faulty brakes and the manager knows that it’s brakes are faulty.
A category 2 applies when the person exposed an individual to a risk of serious injury or death, but the action is not deemed to be reckless.
Category 3 may apply when a person simply fails to comply with a duty but as a result, does NOT expose an individual to risk of injury. For example, a PCBU may have a policy that requires workers to always wear safety glasses whenever on site. If a worker then enters site without wearing safety glasses, he/she would fail in the duty to cooperate with reasonable policies and procedures, even though no risk of eye injury may have been present at that time.
It is important to understand that these penalties apply to ALL workers in the workplace, regardless of the level they are at within the hierarchy within the organization.
Duties under the WHS Act are not dependent on an employee – employer relationship, or money changing hands. Therefore, duties apply when a PCBU hires for instance a contractor or engages a volunteer to do work.
