WHS for Health and Safety Committees – SA Edition
Lesson 1 Topic 2: Duty Holders
Duty Holders
1) Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU)
Including e.g. Employers, Self Employed (Sole Traders), Businesses. A PCBU can therefore be a body corporate or a natural person.
The PCBU has the Primary Duty of Care to ensure the health and safety of workers and others who may be affected by the work carried out. A PCBU achieves these duties through activities such as:
- provide and maintain a safe work environment without risks to health and safety
- provide and maintain safe plant and structures
- provide and maintain safe systems of work such as safe work procedures and/or SWMS
- to ensure the safe use, handling, transport and storage of plant, structures and substances
- to provide that level of instruction, training, information and supervision to protect persons from risks that arise from the work carried out
- monitor the health of workers and conditions at the workplace for the purpose of preventing illness or injury.
PCBUs must also:
- consult with workers and other duty holders
- report notifiable incidents
- resolve WHS issues
Further duties of PCBUs
Depending on the nature of an organization, PCBUs may have further duties. For example:
PCBUs with management or control of a workplace
must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the workplace, the means of entering and exiting the workplace and anything arising from the workplace are without risks to the health and safety of any person.
PCBUs involving management or control of fixtures, fittings or plant
must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the fixtures, fittings and plant are without risks to the health and safety of any person.
Similar for:
- PCBUs that manufacture or design plant, substances or structures
- PCBUs that import or supply plant, substances or structures
- PCBUs that install, construct or commission plant or structures.
The WHS Act specifies additional duties for each type of PCBU. For example, a PCBU that manufactures substances must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the substance is manufactured to be without risks to the health and safety of persons who handle the substance at the workplace.
2) Officers
Including e.g. General Managers, Directors, CEOs and potentially senior managers.
Officers include persons who make, or participate in making decisions that affect the whole, or a substantial part of the business of the corporation; or a person who has the capacity to affect significantly the corporation’s financial standing. A full definition of an Officer is in the Corporations Act 2001.
Officers must exercise Due Diligence, to ensure the PCBU meets its primary Duty of Care.
Due diligence requires an officer to:
- Acquire safety knowledge and keep up to date
- Understand business health and safety risks
- Ensure resources and processes are provided to eliminate or manage risks
- Ensure processes are implemented to receive, consider and respond to incidents, hazards and risks
- Ensure compliance with specific PCBU duties. E.g. consultation, incident notification.
- Verify provision and use of resources and processes.
Officers must be pro-active in exercising these duties.
3) Workers
Includes everybody in the workplace, including employees, contractors, volunteers in their capacity as a worker, apprentices etc.
- Must take reasonable care for their own safety
- Take reasonable care that their actions or omissions do not adversely affect others
- So far as reasonably able, comply with reasonable instructions from PCBU to assist them in complying with the WHS Act.
- Cooperate with WHS policies or procedures that workers have been notified of.
4) Others (Includes customers, visitors, members of the public, sales representatives etc.
- Must take reasonable care for their own safety
- Take reasonable care that their actions or omissions do not adversely affect others
- So far as reasonably able, comply with reasonable instructions from PCBU to assist them in complying with the WHS Act.
Self Employed Persons (Sole traders)
- Self employed persons must ensure their own health and safety (so far as is reasonably practicable) while at work.
Self-employed persons are also considered to be a PCBU and have Primary Duty of Care for safety.
WHS Entry Permit Holders
Union Officials who completed an approved WHS Entry Permit Holder course
Inquire into suspected contravention of WHS Act
Inspect workplace relating to contravention
Inspect/copy documentation relating to contravention
Consult with workers
Consult with PCBU
Warn persons exposed to serious / immediate WHS risk
It is important to note that ALL of the above duty holders are also WORKERS and therefore also have the duties of a WORKER in addition to their listed duties.
