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WORK HEALTH AND SAFETY LEGISLATION We administer and provide advice on the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (http://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/maintop/view/inforce/act+10+2011+cd+0+N) and the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2017 (https://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/#/view/regulation /2017/404).

If you are an employer or business (or other PCBU (http://www.safework.nsw.gov.au/law-and- policy/employer-and-business-obligations/definitions-of-pcbus-and-workers)) you must comply with these laws to ensure the health and safety of your workers.

Our simple safety (http://www.safework.nsw.gov.au/health-and-safety/manage-workplace-safety) section explains these laws in plain English.

The WHS legislation is supported by our Compliance policy and prosecution guidelines (http://www.safework.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/50160 /SW08683-0318-402497.pdf), which supplements the National compliance and enforcement policy (http://www.safework.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/51725/national-compliance- enforcement-policy-3723.pdf).

This information is general about the law only, and is not a statement of the law as it is applied to a particular problem or individual.

Seek legal advice if you need assistance on the application of the law to your situation.

STATUTORY REVIEW OF THE WORK HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT 2011 The NSW Department of Finance, Services and Innovation has conducted a review of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW).

The Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) (the Act) provides a framework to protect the health, safety and welfare of all workers and others in relation to NSW workplaces and work activities. Reviews are scheduled once every five years. This is the first since the Act was introduced.

The scope of this statutory review

Under section 276B of the Act the Minister is required to conduct a review of the Act to determine whether the policy objectives remain valid and whether the terms appropriate for securing those objectives.

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This review examined the objectives of the Act and the NSW-specific provisions of both the Act and the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (the Regulation). The review also examined the NSW-specific codes of practice. These codes were introduced in NSW before the adoption of nationally harmonised work health and safety laws, which officially commenced in NSW on 1 January 2012.

Public consultation

A discussion paper (http://www.safework.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/109480 /Statutory-review-of-the-Work-Health-and-Safety-Act-2011-Discussion-Paper.pdf) was developed and released for a public consultation from 11 November 2016 to 20 December 2016 inclusive.

The discussion paper advised respondents that their submission would be published on the SafeWork NSW website unless they indicated that they wished their submission to remain confidential.

Non-confidential submissions received

Author Title SubmissionDate

Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (http://www.safework.nsw.gov.au /__data/assets/pdf_file /0005/156083/Aust-Fac-of-Occ- and-Env- Medicine_Redacted.pdf)

AFOEM feedback on the NSW Statutory Review of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 Discussion Paper

20 December 2016

Australian Industry Group (http://www.safework.nsw.gov.au /__data/assets/pdf_file /0004/156082/AI-Group.pdf)

New South Wales Statutory review of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 – Submission to New South Wales Government

December 2016

Work health and safety legislation - SafeWork NSW http://www.safework.nsw.gov.au/law-and-policy/legislation-and-...

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Author Title SubmissionDate

Australian Manufacturing Workers Union

(http://www.safework.nsw.gov.au /__data/assets/pdf_file /0006/156084/Aust- Manufacturing-Workers- Union.pdf)

Statutory review of the Work Health and

Safety Act 2011

24 November 2016

Australian Meat Industry Council (http://www.safework.nsw.gov.au /__data/assets/pdf_file /0007/156085/Aust-Meat- Industry-Council.pdf)

Statutory review of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011

19 December 2016

Australian Road Transport Industrial Organisation (http://www.safework.nsw.gov.au /__data/assets/pdf_file /0008/156086/Aust-Road- Trnspt-Indust-Org.pdf)

Statutory review of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011

19 December 2016

Australian Security Industry Association Limited (http://www.safework.nsw.gov.au /__data/assets/pdf_file /0009/156087/Aust-Security- Industry-Assoc.pdf)

Feedback on the 2016/2017 Statutory Review of the WHS Act

15 December 2016

Belinda Sinclair (http://www.safework.nsw.gov.au /__data/assets/pdf_file /0010/156088/Belinda- Sinclair_Redacted.pdf)

Statutory review of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011

14 November 2016

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REVIEW REPORT The review has been completed and the Review Report was tabled in the NSW Parliament on 20 June 2017. You can access a copy of the Review Report (http://www.safework.nsw.gov.au/media /publications/law-and-policy/whs-act-statutory-review-2017/work-health-and-safety-act-2011- statutory-review-report-june-2017) on this website.

A public information campaign will be conducted prior to commencement of the amendments, most of which are expected to be finalised by the end of 2017.

For further information on this review, please email [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]?subject=NSW%20Statutory%20Review) with the subject heading ‘NSW Statutory Review'.

WORK HEALTH AND SAFETY REGULATION 2017 The Work Health and Safety Regulation 2017 (https://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/#/view /regulation/2017/404) comes into effect on 1 September 2017.

It is essentially the same as the 2011 Regulation, except for minor changes, including formatting and corrections to typos.

The changes are outlined in this table (http://www.safework.nsw.gov.au/media/publications/law- and-policy/whs-act-statutory-review-2017/remake-of-the-work-health-and-safety-regulation-2011- table-of-amendments).

AMENDMENTS TO THE NSW WORK HEALTH SAFETY ACT - MARCH 2018 Amendments have been made to the WHS Act, to reflect six of the eleven recommendations from the NSW Work Health and Safety Act 2011 Statutory Review Report.

Some of the amendments are minor, however others provide clarity such as:

The recording of interviews by a WHS Inspector, using sound recording or audio-visual devises, without the consent of the person being interviewed, but only following notice given to the interviewee that the recording will take place. This will provide a clear and accurate record of an interview, reducing the scope for dispute. Extraterritorial application of information, to ensure the NSW WHS Regulators can carry out its functions where cross border uses are involved, to avoid disputes and be more transparent, such as when investigating a workplace incident. This is particularly pressing due to technological advances and the number of business operating in NSW who have their head office, data centres or control rooms in another state or territory.

The NSW Centre for Work Health and Safety (http://www.centreforwhs.nsw.gov.au/) has also commenced work on developing options to strengthen tripartite consultation in NSW.

These changes, which came into effect on 21 March 2018, will assist in improving compliance and enforcement measures for the NSW WHS Regulators, to make the lives of workers and business

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owners healthier, safer and more productive, and improve public safety.

An overview of the amendments is outlined in the fact sheet. (http://www.safework.nsw.gov.au /media/publications/law-and-policy/whs-act-statutory-review-2017/amendments-to-the-nsw-work- health-safety-act-2011)

Work health and safety legislation - SafeWork NSW http://www.safework.nsw.gov.au/law-and-policy/legislation-and-...

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