Jacinta Collins (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for School Education and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

The national review panel considered the role of codes of practice and recommended that compliance with a code should not be deemed to constitute compliance with the act or regulations, and this view was endorsed by the Workplace Relations Ministers Council. The review panel explicitly considered deemed to comply codes and rejected their adoption, noting that deeming can only be useful to the extent to which the code is relevant to the duty and there may be a breach of duty for matters falling outside the code. Currently, only two out of nine jurisdictions—Queensland and Victoria—have deemed to comply codes. The Work Health and Safety Bill recognises the important role of codes of practice and achieves the right balance between formalising this role while also avoiding overprescription and discouraging a 'tick and flick' approach to safety in the workplace.

While codes of practice play an important role in explaining the requirements of the act and regulations and in setting out practical ways to meet the required standard of occupational health and safety practice at work, the focus of duty holders should always be on achieving the best possible standard of safety in the workplace. Achieving this may involve adopting measures that are not specified in the regulation or code of practice. Under the Work Health and Safety Act, an approved code of practice will be admissible in proceedings as evidence of whether or not a duty or obligation under the act has been complied with. For example, a court may use a code of practice as evidence of what is known about a hazard and risk control. A code may also be used to determine what is reasonably practicable in the circumstances to which the code relates.