Compliance is not a single act but a continuing risk-management process. The following steps are distilled directly from the Regulations.
1. Determine whether you are a PCBU and what duties you owe. Review reg 5 and reg 7. If you are a strata body corporate for residential premises and employ no one, you are not a PCBU in relation to those premises. If you are a volunteer association that employs no one, the same exclusion applies. Otherwise you owe the primary duty under s 19 of the Act and the specific duties in the Regulations that attach to your role (designer, manufacturer, importer, supplier, PCBU with management or control of plant, construction principal contractor, operator of a major hazard facility, etc.).
2. Identify hazards and assess risks. For every activity, use reg 34 (identify reasonably foreseeable hazards) and reg 35 (eliminate or minimise risks). Apply the hierarchy in reg 36. Document the assessment (reg 38(2)(c) requires review when a new hazard is identified). For psychosocial hazards, have regard to the mandatory matters in reg 55D(2).
3. Implement, maintain, and review control measures. Controls must be “fit for purpose, suitable for the nature and duration of the work, and installed, set up and used correctly” (reg 37). Review whenever a control fails, a change occurs, a new hazard appears, consultation indicates a need, or an HSR requests review (reg 38).
4. Provide information, training, and instruction. Regulation 39 requires training that is suitable and adequate having regard to the nature of the work, the risks, and the control measures. It must be readily understandable. For construction workers, general construction induction training is mandatory (reg 316). For asbestos, crystalline silica, and lead-risk work, additional task-specific training is required (regs 445, 529CD, 395).
5. Comply with hazard-specific rules.
- Noise: keep exposure below the exposure standard (reg 57); provide audiometric testing where PPE is used to control noise (reg 58).
- Confined spaces: eliminate the need to enter so far as reasonably practicable (reg 64); issue entry permits (reg 67); have standby persons, continuous communication, and emergency procedures (regs 69, 74).
- Falls: provide adequate protection; prefer fall-prevention devices, then work-positioning systems, then fall-arrest systems (reg 79).
- High risk work: ensure only licensed persons perform the work (reg 81); keep evidence of licences (reg 85).
- Construction: prepare a WHS management plan (reg 309); obtain SWMS for high risk construction work (reg 299); manage excavation risks (regs 304–306).
- Hazardous chemicals: classify (reg 329), prepare SDS (reg 330), label (reg 335), maintain a register (reg 346), prepare a manifest and display placards when quantities exceed Schedule 11 thresholds (regs 347–350), provide health monitoring for listed chemicals (regs 368–378).
- Asbestos: identify and manage in-situ asbestos (regs 422–430); prepare an asbestos management plan (reg 429); use only licensed removalists for licensed work (reg 458); follow Class A air-monitoring and clearance requirements (regs 475–477).
- Crystalline silica: if processing is high risk, prepare a silica risk control plan (reg 529CB), use only controlled methods (reg 529C), provide training (reg 529CD), and undertake air and health monitoring (reg 529CE). Most work with engineered stone benchtops, panels or slabs is prohibited (reg 529D).
6. Register and license where required. Register plant designs and items listed in Schedule 5 (Part 5.3). Hold a high risk work licence for the classes in Schedule 3 (Part 4.5). Hold an asbestos removal licence (Class A or B) for licensed asbestos removal work (Part 8.10). For major hazard facilities, notify, prepare a safety case, and obtain a licence (Chapter 9).
7. Consult, train, and supervise. Consult workers and HSRs on risk controls, emergency plans, and safety cases (regs 49, 575). Provide induction, information, training, and supervision that is suitable and adequate (reg 39). For high risk work, ensure direct supervision during training (reg 84).
8. Keep records. Most record-keeping obligations are for fixed periods: 30 years for health monitoring reports (regs 378, 418, 444), 5 years for training records (regs 182, 461, 529CD), 2 years for certain SWMS and risk assessments after a notifiable incident (regs 77, 162, 182, 303). Manifests and asbestos registers must be kept while the chemical or asbestos is present and for 2 years after a notifiable incident (regs 348, 427).
9. Prepare for emergencies and incidents. Every workplace needs an emergency plan (reg 43). Major hazard facilities require a far more detailed plan tested in accordance with emergency-service recommendations (reg 557). Notifiable incidents must be reported immediately (s 35 of the Act; reg 699 lists prescribed serious illnesses).
10. Seek legal or specialist advice where the text is ambiguous. The Regulations are not a complete code. Terms such as “reasonably practicable”, “competent person”, and “isolated quantity” require case-by-case judgment. When in doubt, document the reasoning, consult workers and HSRs, and obtain advice from a competent person or, where appropriate, a lawyer familiar with the harmonised scheme.
Compliance is a system, not a checklist. The Regulations reward those who integrate risk management into every business process and who treat the safety management system as a living document that is reviewed after every incident, every change, and every HSR request.