187ACodes of practice

187A Codes of practice (1) For the purpose of providing practical guidance on any matter relating to this Act, the Minister may, on the recommendation of the Authority, by notice in the Gazette, approve a code of practice. (2) A code of practice may consist of a code, standard, rule, specification or provision relating to matters in this Act formulated, prepared or adopted by the Authority and may apply, incorporate or refer to a document formulated or published by a body or authority as in force at the time the code of practice is approved or as amended, formulated or published from time to time. (3) A notice under subsection (1) shall indicate where a copy of the approved code of practice to which it relates, and all documents incorporated or referred to in the code, may be inspected by members of the public without charge, and the times during which it may be inspected, and the Minister shall make the code and those documents available for that purpose accordingly. (4) Subject to subsection (5), the Authority may, in writing, approve a code of practice in relation to a particular workplace presented to it by employers under whose care and management the workplace is and, on its so doing, that code of practice shall be the approved code of practice applicable to and in relation to that workplace. (5) The Authority shall not approve under subsection (4) a code of practice which, in its opinion, adopts standards less stringent than the minimum relevant standards for the time being in a code of practice approved under subsection (1) and where at any time there is a relevant standard in a code of practice approved under subsection (1) that is more stringent than a standard in a code of practice approved under subsection (4), or a relevant standard in a code of practice approved under subsection (1) in relation to a matter that is not provided for in a code of practice approved under

Return to Work Act 1986 153 subsection (4), that standard in the code of practice approved under subsection (1) shall prevail or apply, as the case may be, and shall be deemed to be incorporated in the code of practice approved under subsection (4). (6) A code of practice approved under subsection (4) shall be made available by the employer at the workplace to which it relates for inspection at all reasonable times by any person. (7) An employer who contravenes subsection (6) is guilty of a Maximum penalty: 4 penalty units. (8) A person shall not be liable to a civil or criminal action by reason only that he or she has failed to observe a provision of an approved code of practice.