Model Work Health & Safety                   Codes of Practice

 

Safe Work Australia Model Codes of Practice are intended to provide practical guidance on how to achieve compliance with the requirements of  Work Health and Safety (WHS) legislation.  A Code of Practice applies to anyone who has a duty of care in the circumstances described in the Code, eg confined spaces or hazardous manual tasks.

Codes of Practice can be used as evidence of what is known about a hazard, risk or control and are admissible in court proceedings.  A court  may rely on the Code in determining what is reasonably practicable under the WHS Act and Regulations. The model Codes of Practice on WHS have been developed by Safe Work Australia.

An updated version of the SWA  Model WHS Regulations (dated 4th November) is available on the SWA website.  Technical amendements have been made and please note that Commonwealth, Qld, NSW ACT and NT have already adapted these regulations for their own jurisdictions.

Codes of Practice have been developed to helporganisations comply with the Regulations, .

Model Codes of Practice are intended to be based on existing codes and the guidance available in jurisdictions.  Existing jurisdictional codes will remain in force until a replacement model Code of Practice is approved.  Transitional arrangements are outlined in the SafeWork Australia Policy for Transitioning document.

The following model Codes of Practice have been approved by a majority of Safe Work Australia members and the Ministerial Council.

 

Second stage Codes of Practice are currently being reviewed following public comment. You can access the Draft Model Codes of Practice that were released for public comment can be accessed below.  You can refer to ACCI's submission and members' submissions on these Codes of Practice.

 

SWA will review and revise these Codes in early 2012 and they will then progress through the SIG-OHS, Safe Work Australia Members and WRMC approval processes in the first half of 2012.

Further Codes of Practice and Guidance material will be developed in 2012.

If you would like further information on Codes of Practice and their implications, please contact us.

ACCI's National Member Network has participated through  ACCI's WHS Working Partyand a wider industry consultative forum. This group of business organisations represents every industry sector in the Australian economy.  The Network provides an opportunity for you to share views and have your say on the  new WHS laws.

You can provide feedback on these Codes and the WHS legislative package to the business organisation that participates in ACCI's National Member Network most relevant to your industry or you can submit comment directly to our ACCI  WHS review bank.

Public comment including ACCI's submission and members submissions on the draft Codes is available on Safe Work Australia Webiste