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Work health and safety laws in Queensland
It is your duty as an employer to provide your workers with a safe and healthy work environment.
Under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 you must assess risks and implement and review control measures to prevent or minimise exposure to these risks.
To properly manage exposure to risks, you must:
- identify workplace hazards
- determine who might be harmed, and how
- decide on control measures
- put controls in place
- review the controls regularly.
This guide introduces you to work health and safety laws and their application.
Work Health and Safety Act 2011
The Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act) sets out the requirements for healthy and safe workplaces. It outlines what you must do to protect the health, safety and welfare of your workers and other people who might be affected by the work your business does.
All workers are protected by the WHS Act. This includes:
- employees
- contractors
- subcontractors
- outworkers
- apprentices
- trainees
- work experience students
- volunteers
- employers who perform work.
The WHS Act also provides protection for the general public so that their health and safety is not at risk by work performed by your business.
The WHS Act places the primary health and safety duty on the business owner or employer – referred to in the Act as a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU). This person must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers at the workplace. This means doing what you are reasonably able to do to ensure the health and safety of workers and others like volunteers and visitors.
Duties, or responsibilities, are also placed on managers, supervisors and workers at a workplace.
The WHS Act covers work health and safety definitions and duties. It also sets out the requirements for:
- incident notifications
- licensing and registrations
- consulting with workers
- compliance and enforcement
- dispute resolution.
Also consider...
- The Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 gives health and safety requirements for businesses to manage.
- Find out more about work health and safety.
Codes of practice for work health and safety
A code of practice provides practical guidance for your business on how to achieve health and safety standards required under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act). A code of practice also has effective ways to identify and manage risks.
If you are conducting a business in Queensland, you must comply with an approved code of practice under the Act. You can use another method, such as a technical or an industry standard – as long as it provides an equivalent or higher standard of work health and safety to the standard required in the code.
Current codes of practice are:
- Abrasive blasting code of practice 2021 (PDF, 1.1MB)
- Amusement devices code of practice 2023
- Cash in transit code of practice 2011 (PDF, 762KB)
- Children and young workers code of practice 2006 (PDF, 427KB)
- Concrete pumping code of practice 2019 (PDF, 2MB)
- Confined spaces code of practice 2021 (PDF, 1.4MB)
- Construction and operation of solar farms code of practice–2024 (PDF, 1.1MB)
- Demolition work code of practice 2021 (PDF, 673KB)
- Electrical safety codes of practice 2020:
- Excavation work code of practice 2021 (PDF, 1.9MB)
- First aid in the workplace code of practice 2021 (PDF, 491KB)
- Forest harvesting code of practice 2007 (PDF, 1.4MB)
- Formwork code of practice 2016 (PDF, 1.6MB)
- Foundry code of practice 2004 (PDF, 725KB)
- Hazardous manual tasks code of practice 2021 (PDF, 1.4MB)
- Horse riding schools, trail riding establishments and horse riding establishments code of practice 2002 (PDF, 630KB)
- How to manage and control asbestos in the workplace code of practice 2021 (PDF, 1MB)
- How to manage work health and safety risks code of practice 2021 (PDF, 670KB)
- How to safely remove asbestos code of practice 2021 (PDF, 2.2MB)
- Labelling of workplace hazardous chemicals code of practice 2021 (PDF, 1.3MB)
- Managing noise and preventing hearing loss at work code of practice 2021 (PDF, 1.6MB)
- Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements code of practice 2022
- Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in the stone benchtop industry code of practice 2019 (PDF, 935KB)
- Managing respirable dust hazards in coal-fired power stations code of practice 2023
- Managing risks of hazardous chemicals in the workplace code of practice 2021 (PDF, 1.3MB)
- Managing risks in stevedoring code of practice 2023 (PDF, 846KB)
- Managing the risks of plant in the workplace code of practice 2021 (PDF, 1.7MB)
- Managing the risk of falls at workplaces code of practice 2021 (PDF, 4MB)
- Managing the risk of psychosocial hazards at work code of practice 2022
- Managing the work environment and facilities code of practice 2021 (PDF, 558KB)
- Manual tasks involving the handling of people code of practice 2001 (PDF, 1.2KB)
- Mobile crane code of practice 2006 (PDF, 1.3MB)
- Occupational diving work code of practice 2005 (PDF, 533KB)
- Preparation of safety data sheets for hazardous chemicals code of practice 2021 (PDF, 1.1MB)
- Recreational diving, recreational technical diving and snorkelling code of practice 2018 (PDF, 620KB)
- Recreational diving, recreational technical diving and snorkelling code of practice 2018 – comparative table (PDF, 620KB)
- Rural plant code of practice 2004 (PDF, 454KB)
- Safe design and operation of tractors code of practice 2005 (PDF, 511KB)
- Safe design of structures code of practice 2021 (PDF, 749KB)
- Scaffolding code of practice 2021 (PDF, 1.1MB)
- Spray painting and powder coating code of practice 2021 (PDF, 1.2MB)
- Steel construction code of practice 2004 (PDF, 1.1MB)
- Sugar industry code of practice 2005 (PDF, 626KB)
- Tilt-up and pre-cast construction code of practice 2003 (PDF, 979KB)
- Tower crane code of practice 2017 (PDF, 1.6MB)
- Traffic management for construction or maintenance work code of practice 2008 (PDF, 817KB)
- Welding processes code of practice 2021 (PDF, 986KB)
- Work health and safety consultation, co-operation and co-ordination code of practice 2021 (PDF, 443KB)
Also consider...
- Find out more about work health and safety in Queensland.
WHSQ inspectors
Inspectors have legal powers under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act), the Electrical Safety Act 2002 (ES Act) and the Safety in Recreational Water Activities Act 2011 (SRWA Act) which allow them to enter any workplace.
Workplace Health and Safety Queensland (WHSQ) inspectors visit workplaces for a variety of reasons:
- investigate workplace incidents
- investigate reports of unsafe, or unhealthy conditions and dangerous work practices
- assess workplace health and safety and electrical safety risks to workers and members of the public
- conduct inspections and national, statewide and regional audit campaigns
- provide information and advice on the legislation
- resolve work health and safety issues
- resolve right of entry and workplace access disputes
- review disputed provisional improvement notices.
Learn more about what happens during an inspector workplace visit.
Also consider...
- Find out more about work health and safety.
Penalties for breaches to work health and safety law
If you do not fulfil your duties or obligations, you are in breach of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act) or the Electrical Safety Act 2002 (ES Act) and could be prosecuted.
A breach to work health and safety law in Queensland occurs when:
- an action is taken that places a person at risk of injury, illness or death
- or
- steps are not taken to avoid a risky situation from occurring
- or
- there is a failure to comply with regulatory requirements.
Examples of breaches of the WHS Act include:
- exposing workers to the risk of excessive noise
- working at heights where the risk of falling is not controlled
- allowing unlicensed operators to use specified equipment (e.g. forklifts)
- not ensuring that plant is appropriately guarded to eliminate or minimise exposure of workers to moving parts
- failing to have in place safe work method statements for work carried out in or near a confined space
- not notifying Workplace Health and Safety Queensland (WHSQ) when a notifiable serious injury or illness occurs at your workplace.
Examples of breaches of the ES Act include:
- performing unlicensed electrical work
- carrying out electrical work on energised electrical equipment when not permitted
- allowing unlicensed operators to use specified equipment (e.g. forklifts)
- not testing electrical work to ensure it is electrically safe
- not notifying the Office of Industrial Relations of a serious electrical incident (SEI) or dangerous electrical event (DEE).
Categories of offences
There are 4 categories of offences for failing to comply with a health and safety duty under the WHS Act or an electrical safety duty under the ES Act, depending on the degree of seriousness or liability involved.
Industrial manslaughter—the highest penalty under either the WHS Act or the ES Act is for industrial manslaughter where a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU), or a senior officer, negligently causes the death of a worker.
Where a PCBU, or senior officer, commits industrial manslaughter, a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment for an individual or $10 million for a body corporate applies.
Find more information and definitions of industrial manslaughter.
Category 1—the next highest penalty under either the WHS Act or the ES Act is for a category 1 offence. These are serious breaches where a duty holder recklessly endangers a person to risk of death or serious injury. Offences involving reckless conduct will be prosecuted in the District Court.
- Corporation: up to $3 million
- Individual as a PCBU or an officer: up to $600,000/5 years jail
- Individual (e.g. a worker): up to $300,000/5 years jail.
Category 2—failure to comply with a health and safety duty or electrical safety duty that exposes a person to risk of death, serious injury or illness. Offences will be prosecuted in the Magistrates Court.
- Corporation: up to $1.5 million
- Individual as a PCBU or an officer: up to $300,000
- Individual (e.g. a worker): up to $150,000.
Category 3—failure to comply with a health and safety duty or electrical safety duty. Offences will be prosecuted in the Magistrates Court.
- Corporation: up to $500,000
- Individual as a PCBU or an officer: up to $100,000
- Individual (e.g. a worker): up to $50,000.
On-the-spot fines
An inspector may issue an on-the-spot fine, also known as an infringement notice, if they believe, on reasonable grounds, that a person is committing or has committed an infringeable offence under work health and safety or electrical safety laws.
Both PCBUs and workers can be issued with an on-the-spot fine. Examples of offences which can be issued with a fine include (but are not limited to):
- failure to comply with an improvement notice
- failure to record a notifiable incident (for example a work-caused serious injury or illness)
- allowing persons to carry out high risk work without seeing written evidence that the worker has the relevant high risk work licence
- failure to allow health and safety representative to exercise his/her powers or functions
- failure to use/wear personal protective equipment (PPE) provided by PCBU in accordance with information, training or reasonable instruction given by PCBU (fine issued to worker)
- failure to test electrical work
- failure to ensure electrical equipment was de-energised before carrying out electrical work.
The fine may be paid in full within 28 days or an application can be made for a payment plan if the fine is over $200.
The alleged offender can choose to contest the infringement notice in a Magistrates Court.
Failure to pay
Not paying the fine can lead to further enforcement action including:
- redirection of wages or funds from a bank account
- issuing of a warrant for the seizure and sale of property
- suspension of the debtor's driver's licence until the debt is satisfied
- registration of the debt for enforcement interstate
- issuing an arrest and imprisonment warrant.
Also consider...
- Find out more about work health and safety.
Work health and safety laws
Work health and safety laws aim to protect the health, safety and welfare of all workers at work. The laws also protect the health and safety of other people who might be affected by the work.
Queensland's work health and safety legal framework includes:
The Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act) sets out requirements and standards for building healthy and safe workplaces. It sets out what you must do to protect the health, safety and welfare of workers and other people in place of work. It puts legal obligations, or duties, on you and your workers.
The Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Regulation) provides detailed information on how to prevent or minimise risks in your place of work.
If you're doing business in Queensland, you must take reasonable steps to eliminate or minimise risks and put in place an effective risk management process.
Provisions in the Regulation (like the Act) are legally enforceable.
Also consider...
- Find out more about work health and safety.
© The State of Queensland 1995–2024
- Last reviewed: 08 Sep 2021
- Last updated: 08 Sep 2021