New national OHS laws ready for release

The Safe Work Australia Council met on 18 September to consider a suite of draft documents on model OHS legislation. The Council agreed to recommend to the Workplace Relations Ministers’ Council (WRMC) that it approve the release of a suite of documents for a public comment period of six weeks.

Tom Phillips, Safe Work Australia Council Chair, said that this was a significant development in the harmonisation of OHS laws around Australia: “We have reached a key milestone, proving Safe Work Australia is on track to deliver national OHS laws by December 2011.”

The documents, to be made available for public comment, will include an exposure draft of the model OHS Act, discussion paper, key administrative regulations and the consultation Regulation Impact Statement (RIS).

Phillips said that this would be an opportunity for Australian businesses and individuals to actively participate and voice their opinion on the development of the new legislation: “I believe harmonising OHS laws will benefit workers across all industries by better protecting the lives and health of Australians. This regulatory reform will not come at the expense of the safety of Australian workers.”

The meeting also saw the agreement to the Licensing Decision Making Framework and the process for classes of work to be assessed against the framework. The framework will be used to decide the contents of the Schedule of High Risk Work Licences referenced by the model regulations on licensing.

The Research and Evaluation Plan and Data Plan for 2009-2012 were endorsed by the Council. The plans reflect a substantial program of work within Safe Work Australia, alone or in conjunction with jurisdictions.