For several years, the safety industry in Western Australia have waited on the edge of their seats for the release of the new WHS Act 2020 (Act), whispering in hushed tones to executives, supervisors and HR managers to warn of stricter requirements and harsher penalties. 

Some businesses sought to prepare themselves by modelling their systems to align with east coast Acts or ISO 45001, whilst others waited for the Acts’ eventual release to better understand what it was all these WHS consultants were on about. Yet a third group of businesses (often smaller businesses lacking the resources to properly invest in in-house safety), find themselves now in 2022 acknowledging the change in laws whilst simultaneously struggling to understand what changes are required in their day-to-day operation. 

What’s Changed…

The true heart of the WHS Laws are less scary and complex than they may appear. 

Whilst the new WHS Act does indeed impose broader requirements on an employer (now defined under ‘Persons conducting a Business or Undertaking), the Act is primarily fixated on protecting people.  There are no tricks, hidden clauses, or vastly unfair impositions on employers in the new Act, and many penalties prescribed are for issues that would likely have resulted in common law action under the previous system anyway. The motivation for harmonised safety laws are founded primarily in the drive to protect people from harm and place value in human life. 

The ‘protection of people’ as the core purpose of safety legislation, is often overshadowed by a business’s obsession with compliance, penalty avoidance and regulator action. 

Our Top Tips

The secret to succeeding in workplace health and safety is to ensure ‘people’ are genuinely valued in the business. 

When people are placed first, you will find your safety management system will naturally comply with the WHS Act because you will likely: 

• Write simple, pragmatic and effective policies and procedures, rather than long, complex and stagnant documents. 
• Include your workers in the design, development and implementation of your policies and procedures. 
• Ensure an effective management system is in place to manage incident and protect people. 
• Ensure business activities are assessed and controlled to protect employees from injury. 

Businesses that truly value their employees are already halfway there. The next step is to gather right team to interpret the requirements of the WHS Act, without the focus on fear and punishment. 

How we can help

The WHS team at Caris Consulting have national experience with the design and implementation of safety management systems to comply with workplace harmonisation laws. 

More importantly, a Caris Consultant is going to place your employees first, and ensure your system is caring, effective and pragmatic. Contact us today for an obligation free initial meeting so that we can understand your WHS business requirements and partner with you to develop your own safety management system tailored to your business.