HSRs: An Important Resource for WHS Due Diligence
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
Lack of Proactive Officer Duties Drives a 30 % Higher Workplace Fatality Rate
Victoria’s workplace health and safety regulator, WorkSafe Victoria, recorded 12 workplace fatalities in the 12 months to 21 November 2025. Twelve preventable deaths in one year, in industries where the hazards and controls are well known is an unacceptable toll by any measure. The causes remain unchanged: structural collapses, unguarded machinery, falls from height, fatigue-related vehicle incidents, and chemical explosions, concentrated in construction, agriculture, manufac