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
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.
Recent prosecutions show ongoing inadequacies in warehouse safety training
2025 so far has seen the courts in New South Wales handing down eight major convictions involving forklift-related incidents. These cases involved both companies and sole traders and have resulted in substantial fines and public scrutiny. A worker was fatally pinned by a 7-tonne forklift after alighting the forklift at an Electrical contracting site. The business was convicted and fined $150,000, with a project order imposed. A 43-year-old forklift operator was struck and
Proposed amendments to the WHS Act
The following is from our associates at Kingston Reid Lawyers in Sydney. This article is written by Special Counsel Kate Curtain who is...
What does it take to be an HSR trainer?
Courtenell put considerable effort into expanding its scope of WHS services in 2023. Being one of the oldest training providers in New...
Liabilities of Directors in new Industrial Manslaughter laws
From 16 September 2024, industrial manslaughter has been a formal offence under New South Wales work health and safety (WHS) legislation.
Employer convicted and fined for failure to provide information
A recent case in New South Wales serves as a stark reminder of the importance of workplace health and safety (WHS) compliance and the...
Worker amputation leads to two businesses prosecuted and fined
A manufacturing facility in Victoria was fined following an incident in which a worker’s finger was amputated while working ...
Should an HSC be involved in issue resolution or health and safety disputes?
If a business has not arranged its own issue resolution process it must follow the default procedure outlined in the WHS Regulation ....
Labour hire workers and WHS
Labour hire involves a host organisation using workers from a labour hire agency, for a temporary period of time. The first company ....
HSR training is not “optional”
SafeWork NSW have an initial course and a refresher course for health and safety representatives. ...
Risk Management for all Industries
Weekly WHS Article 15th May 2024 While the procedures for identifying, assessing, and controlling or eliminating workplace risks and...
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...