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Health and safety
Coordinated approach to H&S
Businesses only have a few months to digest then implement any changes needed to meet the new health and safety laws. One aspect that needs to be well understood is the coordination obligation.
BY STEVE WRAGG, SENIOR ASSOCIATE, EMPLOYMENT AND HEALTH & SAFETY TEAM, KENSINGTON SWAN
HEALTH AND SAFETY has been given a bad rap in some quarters. There are numerous references in the media to ‘elf and safety’, sometimes accompanied by a picture of a garden gnome holding a clipboard. Health and safety policies and procedures have been criticised for sti ing innovation and
development and for stopping people from just getting on with the job.
Tackling the real cost
However, research ndings have consist- ently shown that businesses lose billions of dollars each year through workplace
injuries and deaths. This is quite apart from the social costs that those injuries and deaths have had on the families impacted by inadequate safety practices.
The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSW Act) brings in a raft of changes. It is designed to help achieve the government’s goal of at least a 25% reduction in fatalities and serious injuries in the workplace by 2020.
The Act has had a long and tortuous passage through Parliament. There have been accusations made along the way of backbench revolts, secret deals and last- minute changes to make it tougher for workers to have their voices heard.
Swag of new regulations
However, the reforms have nally made it through to law and will come into force on 4 April 2016. At that time, a series of new health and safety regulations dealing with,
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FEATURE SECTION