As we’ve said the Government has proposed a number of amendments to the Health and Safety at Work Act, but two changes in particular have the potential to significantly influence how businesses meet their legal and health and safety obligations.
The first is the introduction of a formal definition of critical risk sitting at the heart of the act with all other duties orientated around critical risk.
The second is the proposal to create distinct health and safety duties for small PCBUs.
Q: What is the new formal definition of critical risk referring to under the proposed changes to the Health and Safety at Work Act?
One of the biggest proposed changes to the Health and Safety at Work Act is the introduction of a formal definition of critical risk. Put simply, it changes the focus of health and safety from trying to manage every risk equally to making sure businesses/PCBU’s concentrate on the risks that have the potential to cause the most harm.
Under the proposed legislation, a risk will be considered critical if it involves certain high risk hazards listed in the new Schedule 1A of the Act. These include hazards such as asbestos, hazardous substances, working at heights, remote or isolated work, mining operations and adventure activities.
BUT …. What you need to understand as a business owner, officer etc is this list is never EXHAUSTIVE and that is crucial. The key point here is it is still your responsibility to identify whether a hazard could lead to a fatality, serious injury or long term occupational related disease because this determines whether it sits under critical risk or not.
Q: Could your business have different health and safety duties under the proposed law?
Instead of applying the same requirements to every PCBU, the proposed changes introduce a more focused approach based on business size and critical risk.
There’s that word again … critical risk and we want to make sure at the core of how health and safety is managed all roads lead back to (or should we also say all questions lead back to) is critical risk involved.
For now let’s just break down what the different duties for small PCBUs are really referring to so it’s nice and clear.
A small PCBU is defined as a business with fewer than 20 workers. If your workforce changes throughout the year, for example – if you employ seasonal staff, the determining factor is whether you have fewer than 20 workers for most of the financial year.
So, what does this mean in practice?
If you’re a small PCBU, your main legal duty would be to identify and manage critical risks. Once again those are the activities that could result in death, serious injury, serious illness or occupational disease. This includes ensuring appropriate training, supervision, guarding and personal protective equipment (PPE) are in place where those risks present themselves.
This doesn’t mean small businesses can ignore health and safety. They would still be required to provide workplace protections such as adequate lighting, washing facilities, toilets and first aid regardless of the level of risk.
For larger businesses, the expectations remain broader. They would continue to manage all workplace risks, while placing greater focus on identifying and controlling critical risks as the highest priority.
Q: What does this really mean?
The proposed reforms recognise that a five person office and a 200 person construction company don’t face the same health and safety challenges.
The intention is to reduce unnecessary compliance for genuinely low risk small businesses while ensuring organisations undertaking high risk work continue to focus on preventing the incidents that can cause the most serious harm.
The important point is this: being a small business does not automatically mean fewer responsibilities. If your work involves critical risks, your obligation to protect your workers remains just as important. The proposed changes are about making health and safety more proportionate, not lowering the standard where serious harm is possible.
Still struggling to grasp what this actually will mean to how you manage and adapt to the changes? Write down all the questions and concerns you have and talk to me, Safety Ange and I’ll answer any questions you have.
