WHS Law Briefing August 2024

August 2024

Authors:

Australia | Publication | août 2024

Welcome to our WHS Law Briefing. This Briefing identifies key issues and emerging trends in WHS Law, and details significant legislative and case law developments to date in August 2024. Please contact our national WHS team if you would like to discuss any of the matters in this briefing or would like any source materials which have not been included. We welcome your feedback.

Key issues and trends

Industrial manslaughter	There have been a number of developments in relation to industrial manslaughter offences across Australia. Most notably, New South Wales has now passed legislation to introduce the offence to its WHS Act. The industrial manslaughter offence that has been adopted in New South Wales includes specific provisions concerning communication systems for conveying information about fatal risks. These provisions require careful consideration of how any potentially fatal risks are identified, communicated and mitigated through an organisation’s processes. In particular, we recommend that the WHS sections of board reports specifically address fatal risks and controls, in particular in the sections of the report dealing with understanding risks and resourcing matters.
Psychosocial risks	Psychosocial risks continue to be an area of focus. Regulators have released a range of guidance material regarding psychosocial hazards and risks, and in particular, the role of work re-design. There continue to be prosecutions involving alleged psychosocial hazards and risks. Following the release of the national model WHS Code of Practice, Sexual and gender-based harassment by Safe Work Australia in December 2023, the Code has now been adopted in four jurisdictions: New South Wales, Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory.
Ban of engineered stone products	On 1 July 2024, Australia became the first jurisdiction in the world to implement a ban on the use, manufacture and supply of engineered stone benchtops, panels and slabs. There are limited exceptions, including to permit certain processing of legacy items, however the work must be controlled, and the regulator must be notified before the work is carried out. Since the commencement of the ban, a number of safety regulators around Australia have warned that inspectors will be proactively ensuring that duty holders are adhering to the new regulations and taking enforcement action where non-compliance is identified. The Ministers responsible for WHS around Australia have also agreed to implement tougher regulations for crystalline silica processes more generally in September 2024.