Work Health and Safety in the Construction Industry

DIPLOMA OF WORK HEALTH AND SAFETY
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Introduction
There are diverse professions here in the Australian jurisdiction. Some of these jobs are
blue collar jobs while others are white collar jobs. As such, the safety of the workers in that
particular job varies from the safety of another worker in a different profession. In this article, we
shall be discussing the safety measures that arise in my profession, which is in the construction
sector.
1. The legal framework that applies in my workplace
Legislation often plays a huge part to how you run your business. It is for this reason that
it is important for the business owner to be aware of the laws that apply to his or her industry.
The key legislation that may affect businesses in the construction industry here in Australia
includes the following. These laws are the likes of the Work Health and Safety Act of 2012, the
Work Health and Safety Regulations of 2012, and the SA Codes of Practise. Other legislations
are the Return to Work Act of 2014, Returns to Work Regulations of 2015, Fair Work Act of
2009, and the Workplace Gender Equality Agency. There are other regulations that include the
Fair Act (Registered Organizations) Act of 2009, the Disability Standards of 2010, the National
Construction Code, the Heritage Protection, and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity
Conservation Act of 1999.
However, here in Australia, the Work Health and Safety Act (WHS) of 2011 regulates all
the work-related issues with any object to secure the rights and interest of the workers.
According to this act, a person who is conducting any business, or has undertaken a certain

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business, needs to follow the guidelines of the act including all the other related provisions such
as the Fair Work Act, SA Code of Practice, and Workplace Gender Equality Agency1.
The efficient duty of care has been imposed on the employers so that every businesses
can continue with their businesses by following all the mandates for keeping the workplace
health and safe for the workers. According to this act, all the risks are required to be identified
and assessed by the employers. Later, the employers need to make all the decisions wisely for the
benefit of their workers. These employers’ already-made decisions should monitor the health and
safety policies for their workers and conduct the training sessions as well if necessary. Avery
employer is required to follow the laid out legal obligations and practical guidance regarding the
same is providing by the Codes of Practice.
There are certain provisions regarding the hazardous works and process of managing all
the risks regarding the tasks that has also been presented by the Codes. One of the most common
provisions for the workplace related matters is the Fair Work Act 2009.2
The act provides a balanced framework and assists in the promotion of the national
economic prosperity for the Australians. In any case of the construction business, there are
certain additional rulings that are required to be maintained such as the Building Code, National
Construction Code, Disability Standards 2010, Environmental protection and Biodiversity
Conservation Act 1999 and Heritage Protection. These legislations provide the standard for the
constructed objects as they have clearly prescribed the rules effectively.3
1 Billett, Stephen, et al. "Towards More Effective Continuing Education and Training for Australian
Workers." National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) (2015).
2 Moriarty, Sandra, Nancy D. Mitchell, William D. Wells, Robert Crawford, Linda Brennan, and Ruth Spence-
Stone. Advertising: Principles and practice. Pearson Australia, 2014
3 Evans, Phil. "The building and construction industry code of conduct (WA)." Brief 44.6 (2017): 22.

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The requirement for concocting a building has been prescribed under the National
Construction Code. It is of no doubt to state that the construction of the building causes serious
damage to the environment. Environmental protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act of
1999 provide all the protective guidelines to maintain a sustainable biodiversity. All these rules
and regulations must be maintained and followed by the employers in every corner of the state.
2. My advice to my organization on the WHS act compliance
The employers of any business are required to abide by all the guidelines mentioned for
the specific work in relevant legislation. It is the duty of the employer to inform the workers
regarding all the health and safety policies available to them and should make them aware of the
potential hazards related to the said work. By performing this action, the employers stand no
chance of being sued to the negligence of the rights of their employees to understand their rights.
However, if a business owner, such as my organization, remains silent on the matter, he or she
becomes liable to being sentenced to a court of law for further questioning4.
The employers are advised to call for meetings related to the proper implementation of
safety guidelines in the workplaces.5 Apart from this action, the employers should talk to the
employees regarding their problems or requirements. This action not only increases transparency
of employers to their employees but also enhances the work relationships between the two.
In the case of proper implementation of the work health and safety policies, all the legal
assistance will be provided to the employers including the drafts and development policies with
an intention to reduce the legal risks. If the employer fails to comply with all or any of the
guidelines mentioned by the specific legislation, the organization of the alleged employer can be
4 Straker, Leon, David Dunstan, Nicholas Gilson, and Genevieve Healy. "Sedentary work. Evidence on an emergent
work health and safety issue." (2016).
5 Board, Australian Building Codes. National Construction Code. ABCB, 2015.

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exposed and the necessary penalties can be imposed on them. The same action could create
impacts on the premiums of workers.6 However, it is a common problem for the employers that
the provisions of the workplace safety Act and regulations are quite clear, but they made various
complaints against the policies so as to favor themselves.7
In such cases, the employers can seek for help from the advocates so that they can review
the conducts of the employers and provide necessary suggestion to them. Proper investigations
are necessary in case of any complaints and measures should be taken to manage the problems of
the affected workers. The employers are required to assess the proactive risk management
criteria and should be concerned about safety and hazardous issues.8 They should act in
accordance with supportive manners and with due care in case of any injury or illness has
reported.
All the injury-related claims should be resolved on urgent basis. The employers are
required to provide necessary support to the employees with an intention of bringing back the
normal working environment in the workplaces.
3. Two legislation compliance measures installed in the organization
The nature of the discussed organization is construction-based and there is a certain
legislation that regulates the workplace safety mandates such as the Building Code, National
Construction Code and the Heritage Protection Policy. Construction works may include the
forms of alteration, conversion, renovation, demolition, and/or coordination. According to the
6 Bailey, Tessa S., Maureen F. Dollard, and Penny AM Richards. "A national standard for psychosocial safety
climate (PSC): PSC 41 as the benchmark for low risk of job strain and depressive symptoms." Journal of
occupational health psychology 20, no. 1 (2015): 15.
7 Colvin, Alexander JS. "Book Review: Rediscovering Collective Bargaining: Australia's Fair Work Act in
International Perspective." (2014): 274-276.
8 Cain, Peter. "A history of Australian legal education [Book Review]." Ethos: Official Publication of the Law
Society of the Australian Capital Territory 246 (2017): 61.

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building code, before constructing a structure, planning permission should be obtained from the
local authority. Without such permission, the construction may be considered unfit both for
commercial and residential purposes.
The purpose of the legislation provided is to review the health and safety welfare of the
building and to investigate whether all the general requirements have been fulfilled or not. The
provisions of the Building Code are not only providing guidelines to the contractors or architects
but assisting the safety inspectors and the facility managers also. It has been suggested by the
Code that the engineers or the employer should have to maintain the rules laid down in Fire
Code.
The nature of the construction works is hazardous and therefore, the buildings should be
well planned and sufficient arrangements should be taken to avoid the possible risks. The
employers or the developers are required to perform certain acts and all the practical guidelines
regarding the acts are mentioned under the National Construction Code. The provisions of the
Code are legally binding on the employers and the contractors. Apart from the Codes, the Work
Health, and Safety Acts are also provided certain guidelines.
According to section 19 of the Act, it is the primary duty of the contractor to take all the
care of the safety provisions.9 Further, the Act has provided certain duties for the workers too.
Part 3 of the Act has provided about the notifications regarding any injury report and part 2
divisions 2.5 is stating about the penalties in case of any breach of duty made by the parties. A
contractor is required to appoint health and safety representative to investigate the works and any
loopholes presented in the work.
9 Weimer, David L., and Aidan R. Vining. Policy analysis: Concepts and practice. Taylor & Francis, 2017.