Workplace Health and Safety
As a person conducting a business or undertaking, or an employer, meeting your workplace health and safety obligations for the benefit of your workers and employees is not just a moral requirement, but a legal one too.
With regular changes to Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) and Occupational Health and Safety laws and increasing penalties for breaches of duties, it’s imperative that you act fast when WHS issues arise, stay on top of potential risks and implement effective workplace safety measures to ensure a happy, healthy and safe workplace.
Ensuring workplace health and safety compliance
Our WHS expertise involves investigations, risk management, training, and defence of WHS prosecutions. We work strategically to:
- undertake health and safety audits and reviews of WHS systems and protocols.
- conduct thorough WHS risk assessments to identify and assess potential hazards in the workplace, and implement necessary controls.
- investigate workplace health and safety deaths, injuries, and incidents.
- assist with incident notification requirements.
- advise and present to directors and other officers, boards, executive management teams, and workplace groups on WHS obligations to minimise risk and exposure to liability.
- advise businesses on WHS consultation, cooperation and coordination requirements with workers and other businesses.
- establish safety governance procedures and prepare work health and safety materials, including guides, plans and contractual provisions to achieve WHS compliance.
- devise and deliver training to officers and senior personnel on psychosocial risks and officer due diligence.
- act in relation to WHS investigations, interviews, prosecutions and inquiries.
Our workplace health and safety experience
Investigations, inquiries, and prosecutions
- Acting for a major titanium ore miner in relation to fatalities at an NSW mine site.
- Acting for a global energy company in relation to investigation and WHS prosecution involving serious injury sustained at ship loading facility.
- Acting and advising a small goods business in relation to defence of WHS prosecution involving gross negligence and recklessness charge.
- Acting for an international agricultural business in relation to an incident involving serious leg injuries to an employee who was hospitalised as a result of the incident.
- Advising a global geo-data specialist company in relation to investigation by WorkSafe WA into serious incident on offshore platform.
- Acting for international resources companies in relation to offshore incident investigations and a Commission of Inquiry.
Training and presentations
- Presenting to boards, executive management teams and workplace groups on WHS obligations and potential officer liability, including industrial manslaughter.
- Delivering training to senior leadership personnel of resource companies on psychosocial risks and officer due diligence.
Duties and compliance
- Advising a major titanium ore miner on compliance issues under WHS mining laws impacting its operations in Western Australia and New South Wales, including in relation to psychosocial hazards and risks, incident notification, officer due diligence and mine operator duties.
- Assisting an international industrial garnet supplier in relation to psychosocial hazards and risks, including advising on risk management processes, incident notification requirements, assessment and implementation of control measures.
- Advising mining operators on the introduction of WHS mining laws, including mine safety management plan, statutory positions and incident reporting, and rail and port WHS regulation.
- Advising and acting for an international energy company in relation to psychosocial risks and defence of WHS prosecution.
- Advising on construction work and projects and duties on principal contractors and in relation to radiation exposure requirements under WHS laws.
Documentation, policies and procedures
- Establishing safety governance procedures for a national retailer to assist them with their WHS obligations.
- Drafting WHS contractual obligations for a large truck distributor to be included in service agreements to ensure their service providers comply with all applicable health and safety laws and ensuring health and safety risks are minimised.
- Developing template WHS board reports and a WHS compliance framework for clients from a range of industries.
- Preparing psychosocial risks policies, risk assessments and registers and procedures.
Audits, reviews and WHS systems
- Reviewing WHS risk management and contractor management policies for a large home building group.
- Conducting WHS risk management analysis for a major hospital and health care precinct.
- Designing a WHS system for an international recruitment firm to assist them meet their obligation to ensure contractors placed in health and safe work environments.
Key contacts
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