HSRs and Risk Management
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
Three Categories of WHS Offences and a Table of NSW Penalty Units (2025-2026)
The NSW WHS Act 2011 has recently been amended. These amendments have included an increase in the penalty rates for WHS breaches. ....
Consultation as the fundamental failure in serious work health and safety incidents
Serious workplace incidents, worker fatalities, and life‑altering injuries rarely occur in the absence of prior warning signs. Repeatedly, investigations, coronial inquiries and court decisions show that the most common systemic failure is not the absence of written safety systems, but the failure of those systems to be informed by meaningful consultation. Consultation failures are consistently identified as a root cause of serious harm.
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
$40,000 fine for warehouse traffic management plan failures
A warehousing company in Victoria has just been fined $40,000 for repeatedly failing to follow its traffic management system.
HSR training is not “optional”
SafeWork NSW have an initial course and a refresher course for health and safety representatives. ...
Judge emphasizes WHS duties are non-delegable
Non-delegable duties are legal obligations that cannot be transferred to another party. Even if the task is delegated, the original party...
WHS Codes of Practice
A model WHS code of practice developed by SafeWork Australia and approved by SafeWork NSW can be very useful when dealing with ...
What does "Due Diligence" mean in a WHS Context?
Section 27 of the WHS Act 2011requires that, officers of a PCBU “must exercise due diligence to ensure..."
What do HSRs Learn in SafeWork NSW’s new HSR Course?
Weekly WHS Article 29th June 2023 If an HSR wants to be able to that role fully, they must be trained on SafeWork NSW’s initial 5-day...
WHS Law: “Everything old is new again”
When the Model WHS laws commenced in Australia in 2012 it brought to Australia a new and updated look at workplace health and safety and ...
What is a Work Group?
A “work group” in WHS law are groups of people within the business that are represented by one person and their deputy for the purpose ...
Trainer feedback on HSR virtual courses
Here is some feedback from one of our WHS trainers who delivers the SafeWork NSW HSR courses virtually in Zoom and MS Teams. ....