Work health and safety (WHS) legislation

The model WHS legislation - based on Commonwealth legislation - has been adopted by ACT, NT, NSW, Queensland, SA and Tasmania. Refer Acumen note The model WHS Acts and Regulations (ACT, NT, NSW, Qld, SA, Tas). Victoria and WA have not implemented this model legislation, but continue to have their own OHS legislation in place. Minor variations exist in some jurisdictions to ensure the legislation is consistent with their respective drafting protocols and other laws and processes. 

The legislation is supported by the relevant regulations, codes of practice and guidance notes. Links to each of the state and territory WHS/OHS acts, regulations and codes of practice can be found here.

In some jurisdictions architects may be held liable if their construction documents specify unsafe materials, require unsafe construction procedures, practices or techniques, or if the design itself could be regarded as unsafe. Imposing WHS obligations on people (including architects) responsible for designing buildings used as workplaces is gaining increasing prominence.

Codes of practice provide practical guidelines to employers, employees and designers to assist in compliance with the act's provisions. The approved codes represent the standard that should be followed unless an alternative method can be demonstrated. Guidance notes provide technical information for use by unions, employers, health and safety personnel, medical practitioners and others.

The provisions in a code of practice are not mandatory and compliance with the provisions of an act or regulations can be observed in other ways, however in legal proceedings should they arise – failure to observe a relevant code of practice can be used as evidence of failure to comply with the provisions of the act or regulations.

It is important to refer to the requirements of the current, specific legislation, regulations, codes and other references that apply to your jurisdiction and the specific circumstances of the act or law under which you practice or which apply to a property or site.

Most definitions exclude dwelling houses from occupational sites or workplaces but explicitly or implicitly recognise that if work is being undertaken on a building that it becomes a workplace or building site regardless of its primary use.

Good design practice requires that buildings and built environments be designed to protect users and be as safe as reasonably practicable.

Back to top

Regulations, guidelines, codes and other references

Compliance with the National Construction Code (NCC) is only a part of fulfilling an architect's obligations in respect of WHS. State and Commonwealth WHS and OHS acts and regulations contain more extensive WHS requirements which are less easily defined and there are referenced, mandatory or recommended codes of practice. Some state laws may also reference other sources of WHS practice such as:

• Australian and international standards
• Safe Work Australia's guidelines, codes and standards
• state building acts and regulations, particularly the NCC
• information from government departments responsible for aspects of WHS/OHS such as workers' compensation or environment protection
• industry codes and information.

Back to top

Roles and responsibilities of architects

Architects need to be aware of their responsibilities for WHS, because of the special and often contractual relationship they have with clients, contractors, property owners and building managers, and because of the ethical relationship they have with users.

Architect's WHS/OHS duties may arise in several ways:

• as employers responsible to their staff for their workplaces (the office, the car, the building site)
• as designers of future workplaces
• as agents or indirect employees (in the wider sense) of the client or owner, to the extent that they exercise control – normally this control is exercised by the contractor on a construction site, but the architect needs to be mindful not to usurp this power by his or her actions
• as direct employees in an architectural firm.

Architects need to be aware of the issues of responsibility because of:

• their expert role in the design industry
• the advice they give to others whether as consultants or as interested parties
• the documents and designs they produce that are used by others
• the specific clauses in WHS/OHS legislation that relate to designers' duties
• because they may be the agents for owners of sites or buildings
• the project and contract-management roles undertaken on behalf of clients
• their duty as service providers under consumer and specific architect legislation
• their duties as employers and employees.

Architects often occupy several roles concurrently.

Depending on their influence within a business, an architect may assume the role and responsibilities of an 'officer' under WHS laws. For more details regarding duties of an officer, refer to the business.gov.au website. 

Back to top

Further reading

• Guide to best practice for safer construction: Principles

• Guide to best practice for safer construction: Tasks

• Work Health & Safety Policies and Procedures Manual located on the Institute's HR Hub, covers relevant areas in responsiveness to and prevention of potentially hazardous exposure, including a Hazardous Substances Policy, Incident Notification Policy, Hazardous Substances Register and Incident Reporting Flow-Chart.

Back to top