Please note that the information in this article was based on trends from 2013 and may now be outdated.
Disregarding important work health and safety issues not only endangers you and other people in the workplace, but it can also be very costly.
When the Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act came into force on 1 January 2012, the penalties for non-compliance became much heavier. This is one way to encourage companies, officers, PCBUs (persons conducting a business or undertaking), and workers to pay more attention and take more concrete measures to ensure safety in the workplace.
The penalties given vary widely depending on the nature of the offence and who is responsible for the breach. The most severe penalties involve fines of up to $3 million or up to five years of jail time.
The penalties often differ for companies, officers PCBUs, and workers, wherein the company usually pays the biggest fines. Officers are defined as someone, such as a director or secretary, whose decisions have a substantial effect on the financial standing of the company or the company in general. A PCBU is someone who conducts business alone or with others, such as in the case of a business partnership.
Here’s a quick look at the work health and safety non-compliance penalties that every company, PCBU, or worker should know.
Neglecting health and safety duties can be divided into three main categories:
Category 1 is breached “when the person, without reasonable excuse, engages in conduct that exposes a person to risk of death, serious injury or illness, or is reckless as to the risk of death, serious injury or illness to any person.”
Category 2 is breached when there is failure to comply with health and safety duties, “and the failure exposes a person to risk of death, serious injury or illness.”
For categories 1 and 2, exposure to risk is enough to warrant a penalty, even without any actual deaths or serious injuries and illnesses.
In order to avoid any of these penalties, it’s important to have solid safety measures and policies in place. Whether you’re a company owner, officer, PCBU, or worker, it’s important to know and do your health and safety duties to reduce hazards in the workplace.
Proper safety training, protective equipment, safety signs, and risk analyses are just some amazing tools that can help you achieve a safe and healthy working environment.
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