Coinciding with World Mental Health Day 2026, SafeWork NSW has launched its largest workplace mental health compliance campaign, placing psychosocial risk management firmly in the regulatory spotlight. Inspectors will visit workplaces across NSW and a broad range of industries to assess how organisations identify, assess, and control psychosocial hazards. The campaign follows preliminary inspections conducted during May and June 2026, when inspectors visited more than 200 wor

Does your Health and Safety Committee turn workplace concerns into action, or do the same issues appear on the agenda meeting after meeting? An effective Chairperson can make a significant difference. By encouraging participation, keeping discussions focused and coordinating follow-up, the Chairperson helps the committee become a useful forum for improving workplace health and safety. NSW WHS legislation recognises Health and Safety Committees as a way for businesses and work

Note: The following article expands on the analysis in: Lack of Proactive Officer Duties Drives a 30 % Higher Workplace Fatality Rate The Model Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act is built on a simple but powerful proposition: workplace safety failures often begin with governance failures. For that reason, New South Wales and other jurisdictions operating under the Model WHS laws impose a personal due diligence duty on officers. Rather than allowing directors and senior executiv

SafeWork NSW has released its 2026–27 Regulatory Statement (SRS), setting out the hazards it will continue to target through its compliance and enforcement activities over the coming year. The four priorities are: falls from heights; psychosocial risks; hazardous substances; and mobile plant, vehicles and fixed machinery. There is an important point in the announcement: these priorities have remained largely unchanged for the past two years. That is not necessarily bad news.

A Health and Safety Representative (HSR) is sometimes viewed primarily as the person who represents workers when something goes wrong. That is an unnecessarily narrow view of the role. For directors and other officers of a business, an effective HSR can be a valuable WHS resource—helping management understand what is actually happening where work is being performed. Under section 27 of the NSW Work Health and Safety Act 2011, officers have a personal duty to exercise due dili

Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs) play an important role in representing workers on work health and safety (WHS) matters. However, an HSR can only effectively perform that role when they are available to the workers they represent. If an HSR is regularly away from the workplace, (for example, travelling between sites, working remotely, or carrying out other duties), the work group can be left without effective representation when it is needed. This is where a Deputy He

SafeWork NSW has released its 2026–27 Regulatory Statement (July 2026), identifying four priority areas for proactive compliance and enforcement over the coming year: falls from heights psychosocial risks hazardous substances mobile plant, vehicles and fixed machinery. These priorities reflect the hazards most associated with serious injuries and fatalities across New South Wales. For many organisations, however, the significance of the Regulatory Statement extends beyond i

Over the past few months, many clients have told us that while they recognise the importance of Health and Safety Representative (HSR) training, releasing workers from the workplace for five consecutive days, or the traditional three-day and two-day training format, can be challenging. Operational demands, staffing levels, service delivery requirements, and the economic impact of prolonged absences can make attendance difficult, particularly in aged care, manufacturing, logis

A union delegate can also be elected as a Health and Safety Representative (HSR), provided they have been properly elected by the workers in their work group in accordance with the WHS Act. However, the two roles are separate: HSR Union Delegate Elected under the WHS Act by members of a work group. Appointed or elected under union rules. Focuses on health and safety risks. Focuses on industrial and employment interests. Represents all workers in the work group. Represents uni

In the Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act 2011, Section 28 outlines the specific duties of workers. It is designed to ensure that while an employer (PCBU) has the primary duty of care, individuals also carry responsibility for safety in the workplace. WHS Act (NSW) Section 28: Duties of Workers While at work, a worker must: Take reasonable care for his or her own health and safety; and Take reasonable care that his or her acts or omissions do not adversely affect the health and

Health and Safety Committees (HSCs) play an important role in many NSW workplaces. When set up and used properly, they: ✅ strengthen consultation, ✅ improve risk visibility, and ✅ support better health and safety outcomes. When they are not set up and used properly, they may become something else entirely, such as: ⚠️ a forum for off‑topic debate, ⚠️ a substitute for management decision‑making, or worse, ⚠️ a place where managers attempt—intentionally or not—to offload resp

A recent incident highlights the critical importance of effective supervision, risk assessment, and control measures when engaging young or inexperienced workers in higher-risk environments. At a mechanical workshop, a 15-year-old work experience student was assigned a task involving the draining of a vehicle radiator. Prior to this, the vehicle had been running to assess overheating. The student was instructed to loosen a hose clamp to release pressure from the cooling sys

Work health and safety (WHS) is most effective when it is built on shared understanding, clear roles, and genuine collaboration. One of the key strengths of the WHS framework in Australia is the way it brings together the business, management, workers, and Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs) to manage risks collectively. Understanding the role of HSRs in risk management is essential, not just for compliance, but for creating workplaces where safety systems actually wor

A recent Queensland court decision has reinforced a critical principle in work health and safety: identifying hazards and documenting control measures is not enough. Controls must be implemented, supervised, and enforced in practice. The matter arose from an incident at a worksite in Queensland involving interaction between mobile plant and pedestrian workers, a well-regarded high-risk activity. A pedestrian worker sustained serious injury when struck by operating machinery