Tag Archive for: WHS Act

Not Boring Safe Design Course

Safe Design Online Course for designers

Safe design doesn’t have to be boring!

The ‘Not boring safe design course’.

 

Safe design can prevent injury, improve productivity and usability, reduce costs, and help manage production and operations of your design projects.

But most importantly, it incorporates innovative, best practice design principles.

As building designers, safe design also helps you meet your obligations under Work Health and Safety (WHS) legislation. Why? Because you have a legal duty to do so.

No one gets excited about safety…especially not safe design…

Let’s be honest — no-one gets excited about safety. There’s certainly very little enthusiasm for Safe Design. But… What if it wasn’t boring?

That’s why we developed a flexible, practical and convenient online Safe Design Course (a NOT boring one), aimed at helping you understand and meet your obligations under WHS legislation and apply best practice safe design.

It’s self-paced and gives you the latest information, advice and tools relating to safe design legislation and best practices in Australia, New Zealand and around the world.

This short course includes practical application of WHS legislation by designers, and you may be eligible for CPD points with your industry association.

The course is specifically focussed on Safety in Design (SiD) for design professionals. And, you can complete the program in one-sitting, or save your progress and return to continue at a later time.

Designed by international safe design expert and HSW professional, John Daly, the ‘Not Boring Safe Design Course provides the latest information, advice and tools relating to safe design practices in Australia, New Zealand and around the world.

Who is this course suitable for?

The SiD online course (that’s the not-boring-one), is suitable for all professionals involved in the design, development and construction of structures:

  • Building Designers
  • Architects
  • Engineers
  • Developers
  • Design and Construction companies
  • Principal Contractors and Project Managers

What does this Safety in Design course cover?

The online, self-paced short course covers all aspects of Safe Design including:

  • An introduction to Safe Design
  • Principles of Safe Design – Prevention, People, Knowledge
  • Getting started with Safe Design
  • Risk Assessment and Risk Management
  • Safe Design in Action – Practical applications for your projects
  • Legal responsibilities and WHS legislation

Continuing Professional Development

On completion you’ll receive a ‘Certificate of Completion’ – with the number of CPD hours of training and serves as documentary proof of completion. Please contact your respective Association to check their individual CPD requirements.

The ‘Not Boring Safe Design Course’ has been endorsed by the Safety Institute of Australia for Continuing Professional Development.

 

ENSURE YOU’RE MEETING YOUR DUTIES AS A DESIGNER

If you’re a building designer, architect, engineer, or other building design professional, we encourage you to enrol in our flexible and convenience ‘Not Boring Safe Design Course’, designed to assist you understand and practice safe design principles.

Need more info, contact us.

Safe design - Legal overview

Safe Design – A Legal Overview

Safe Design – A Legal Overview*

This article on ‘Safe Design – A Legal Overview’ is an excerpt of content from Safe Design Australia’s ebook “Safe Design in Practice, for designers of structures.’

 

It’s important to remember that the purpose of the Work Health and Safety Act (WHS) is about encouraging a collaborative approach to risk management and involvement of all stakeholders to promote a safer outcome for workers during the lifecycle of the structure as a workplace. More than one person or entity can have a duty in relation to the same matter. Prevention of incidents is the preferred outcome.

Health and safety duties under the WHS Act

Under the WHS Act, the ‘health and safety duties’ (refer sections 19-29) that would most likely apply to designers are contained in:

  • Section 19 – the primary duty of care – imposed on all persons conducting a business or undertaking; and
  • Section 22 – duties of designers.

A related duty to that imposed on designers is contained in Section 26 – duties of persons who commission structures (the client).

There are also further health and safety duties that may be relevant to designers and clients in relation to structures including duties of PCBUs who manufacture (s23), import (s24), or supply (s25) structures or those who install or commission structures (s26).

Additionally, there are health and safety duties on individuals connected with a designer, including officers (s27), workers (s28) and other persons at a workplace (s29).

Other duties and provisions of the WHS Act

There are various other provisions of the WHY Act, including duties that are relevant to PCBUs, including designers.

For example:

  • Sections 35-38 state when a duty holder must notify the relevant regulatory body in their state of a work health and safety incident.
  • Sections 40-45 relate to authorisations for particular workplaces, plant or substances and prescribed qualifications or experience.
  • Sections 46-49 provide for consultation by a duty holder with others, including workers and other duty holders.

WHS Regulation

The WHS Regulation is made under the WHS Act. The Regulation relates to a range of matters and generally provides more specific guidance and/or obligations than contained in the WHS Act. However, it’s important to note that an obligation imposed by the WHS Regulation in relation to health and safety does not limit or affect any duty the person has under the WHS Act, or unless expressly stated, any other provision of the WHS Regulation (reg 11). In most instances, the failure to compliy with a WHS Regulation results in a significantly lesser penalty than a failure to comply with a provision under the WHS Act.

Potential legal consequences of breach of the WHS Act for designers

The potential legal consequences for a breach of the WHY legislation are varied, but the main options available consist of:

  • A monetary penalty;
  • Imprisonment (individuals only);
  • An improvement notice;
  • A prohibition notice;
  • A non-disturbance notice;
  • Enforceable undertakings;
  • Adverse publicity orders
  • Orders for restoration;
  • Work health and safety project orders;
  • Training orders;
  • Injunctions; and/or
  • A civil penalty.

Other legal claims that could be made as a result of a health and safety incidence include:

  • A worker’s compensation claim;
  • A claim under anti-discrimination legislation; or
  • A claim under industrial law (e.g. unfair dismissal, unlawful termination, general protections).

These types of claims are more likely to be made by an employee or contractor against an employer or principal (including by an employee or contractor of a designer) rather than a third party against a designer.

More than one consequence

It’s also possible that if an incident occurs, a designer may face more than one legal consequence. E.g. where both a criminal prosecution and civil law claim could be pursued.

 

ENSURE YOU’RE MEETING YOUR DUTIES AS A DESIGNER

Want to find out more about your Safe Design obligations under legislation? Download our FREE EBOOK.

Or if you’re a building designer, architect, engineer, or other building design professional, we encourage you to enrol in our flexible and convenience ‘Not Boring Safe Design Course’, designed to assist you understand and practice safe design principles and endorsed by the Safety Institute of Australia (SIA).

Need more info, contact us.

* The information in this article is an excerpt of content from pages 24-27 of Safe Design Australia’s ebook “Safe Design in Practice, for designers of structures” and was provided by Michelle Cooper, Director, People+Culture Strategies (PCS).
Safe Design Legislation Definitions

Safe Design Legislation – Some Definitions

Safe Design Legislation – Some Definitions

The following are definitions of key terms and aspects from Australia’s Safe Design Legislation, explaining the various parties and contributors as well as key elements in the WHS Act and legislation. Here we explain:

  • Design and Designer
  • Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU)
  • Principal Contractor
  • Reasonably Practicable
  • Recognised Standards, and
  • Structure

Design and Designer

Under the WHS Act, ‘design’ in relation to plant, a substance or a structure includes:

  • design of part of the plant, substance or structure; and
  • redesign or modify a design.^

The Code of Practice: Safe Design of Structures defines a designer as a person conducting a business or undertaking whose profession involves them in, “preparing sketches, plans or drawings for a structure, including variations to a structure and making decisions for incorporation into a design that may affect the health or safety of persons who construct use or carry out other activities in relation to that structure.” *

Designers can include:

  • architects,
  • building designers,
  • landscape designers,
  • interior designers,
  • builders,
  • town planners,
  • engineers that design part of the structure (e.g. mechanical, structural, civil, electric, hydraulic),
  • services and plant designers and persons specifying how alteration or demolition work is carried out,
  • If a principal contractor or other person changes a design, they then take on the role of designer.

Person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU)

Person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) is a term that is used throughout the WHS Act and Regulation in relation to the design of structures. A PCBU is a person who conducts a business or undertaking alone or with others that can operate for profit or not-for-profit.+ These include PCBUs:

  • who commission construction work (‘the client’),
  • PCBUs that commission plant or structures (‘the client’), and
  • PCBUs that design structures (‘the designer’).
  • The principal contractor is also a PCBU.

The definition of a PCBU focuses on the work arrangements and the relationships to carry out the work. PCBU’s can be:

  • A corporation,
  • An association,
  • A partnership, or
  • Sole trader.

Employers or volunteer organisations which employ any person to carry out work is considered a PCBU. Householders where there is an employment relationship between the householder and the worker are also considered a PCBU.

PCBUs can also include:

  • A person commissioning a design for a workplace, or
  • A person commissioning a structure for residential purposes, who is an owner builder, investor, developer, or is working from home or employing workers at home.

The Code of Practice: Construction Work says that a “person commissioning the design is not a PCBU if they are a home buyer, owner or occupier commissioning work on their home; or an individual undertaking maintenance, refurbishment or renovations of their own home or helping a friend”.

Regardless of whether a client is considered a PCBU or otherwise, the designers’ duties in relation to safe design under section 22 of the WHS Act still apply. This includes designers providing information to their clients and anyone issued with the design on any conditions necessary to ensure that the structure is designed to be without risk to health and safety when it is used as a workplace.

Designers conducting design businesses are also considered PCBUs and as such have duties in relation to the safety of their own workers when they are working for them either in or out of the office or on site.

Principal Contractor

A principal contractor is required for a construction project where the value of the construction work is $250,000 or more. The principal contractor is a person conducting a business or undertaking that:

  • commissions the construction project (the client); or
  • is engaged by the client to be the principal contractor and is authorised to have management or control of the workplace #

Reasonably practicable

The designer must ensure, so far as is ‘reasonably practicable’, that the structure is designed to be without risk to the health and safety of persons who manufacture or construct any component of the structure, who use the structure for the purpose for which it is designed or are involved in the maintenance or disposal of that structure.

The term ‘reasonably practicable’ is also used in relation to consultation with other duty holders and between designers and clients on how risks to health and safety during construction can be eliminated or minimised.

‘Reasonably practicable’ means that which is, or was at a particular time, reasonably able to be done to ensure health and safety, taking into account and weighing up all relevant matters including:

  1. The likelihood of the hazard or the risk concerned occurring;
  2. The degree of harm that might result from the hazard or the risk;
  3. What the person concerned knows, or ought reasonably to know, about the hazard or risk and ways of eliminating or minimising the risk (as a professional in the design field);
  4. The availability and suitability of ways to eliminate or minimise the risk; and
  5. After assessing the extent of the risk and the availability of ways of eliminating or minimising the risk, the cost associated, including whether the cost is grossly disproportionate to the risk.~

Recognised standards

‘Recognised standards’ include legislation, WHS codes of practice, Australian standards, building laws, the National Construction Code of Australia (NCCA) and industry guidance materials.

It is important to be aware of the currency and applicability of any standards and to assess the efficacy of the standard and research current injury data to determine whether a recognised standard is adequate to address the identified hazard. In some cases, designers may need to go beyond the requirements of a standard. E.g. injury data shows that standard balustrade heights on highrise buildings are often inadequate to address the risk of falls.

Structure

The WHS Act defines structure to mean “anything that is constructed, whether fixed or moveable, temporary or permanent, and includes:
a. buildings, masts, towers, framework, pipelines, transport infrastructure and underground works (shafts or tunnels);
b. any component of a structure; and
c. part of a structure”.^^

Examples also include all types of buildings, pipe work, tunnels, landscape elements, swimming pools, paths and roadways.

 

GET IN TOUCH

Want to find out more about your Safe Design obligations under legislation? Download our FREE EBOOK.

Or if you’re a building designer, architect, engineer, or other building design professional, we encourage you to enrol in our flexible and convenient ‘Safe Design Online Short Course’, designed to assist you understand and practice safe design principles and endorsed by the Safety Institute of Australia (SIA).

Need more info, contact us.

^ Safe Work Australia. (2011). Model Work Health and Safety Bill. Canberra: Safe Work Australia, p.4
* Safe Work Australia. (2012). Code of practice: Safe design of structures. Canberra: Safe Work Australia, p.5.
+ WorkCover NSW. (2011). Fact Sheet – PCBUs, Workers and Officers. Sydney: NSW Government.
# Safe Work Australia. (2012). Code of practice: Safe design of structures. Canberra: Safe Work Australia, p.5.
~ Safe Work Australia. (2011). Interpretive Guideline – model Work Health and Safety Act – the meaning of ‘Reasonably Practicable’. Canberra: Safe Work Australia.
^^ Safe Work Australia. (2011). Model Work Health and Safety Bill. Canberra: Safe Work Australia, p.7.