Your legal duties
Your current duties
Specific construction regulations commence on 1 July 2008. In the meantime, employers and employees in the construction industry must still observe the general duties under the OHS Act and duties under the OHS Regulations relating to specific hazards and other OHS issues affecting their workplaces.
Employers
By law, employers must provide a safe working environment for their workers, as far as reasonably practicable.
This means:
- you must eliminate any risks to health and safety, as far as reasonably practicable
- if it’s not reasonably practicable to eliminate the risks, you must reduce them as far as reasonably practicable.
In addition to protecting the health and safety of your workers, you also must ensure that other people (such as your customers, visitors and the general public) are not exposed to risks as a result of your business.
You also have specific duties in relation to hazards such as:
Notification of excavation work
The Mines Act 1958 requires you to notify in writing of an intention to excavate a shaft, trench or tunnel at least three days before the work starts, if the excavation can be entered by a person or if the work is a risk to anyone’s health or safety.
This requirement does not apply to a trench or shaft on a building construction site (but applies to a tunnel, whether on a building construction site or not).
Employees
Your employer is required to protect you from any risks to your health and safety in the workplace.
At the same time, you have a general duty to take reasonable care for your own health and safety, and that of others who may be affected by your work, and to cooperate with your employer’s efforts to make the workplace safe.
This may include following workplace policies and procedures, attending health and safety training, as well as helping to identify hazards and risks.
