The Australian Institute of Health and Safety is calling for mandatory workplace health and safety Standards to be free – but the issue is bigger than saving a buck.
The phrase ‘cost-of-living’ has rolled off the tongue of almost every Australian in the past 12 months. And as households across the country tighten their belts, so too do the nation’s businesses.
The mining industry is a huge contributor to the Australian economy, but increasing costs are making it difficult for emerging miners to gain a foothold. While no miner, big or small, would ever sacrifice safety in the cost crunch, there are growing concerns of an emerging barrier to accessing critical safety information.
Work health and safety (WHS) Standards are the guidelines, procedures and specifications that help businesses stay safe, consistent and reliable.
The Standards are not laws, so there is no specific requirement for businesses to conform to their guidance, but things get complicated when a Standard is referenced in legislation.
In 2011, Safe Work Australia developed a single set of WHS laws to be implemented across Australia. These are known as the model WHS laws.
The model WHS laws have become legally binding in New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory, but not Victoria or Western Australia.
WA passed a version of the model WHS Act in November 2020, but it will not be operational until certain regulations are finalised.
If a specific Standard is enshrined in these or any laws, businesses are required to conform, and therefore must purchase the Standard.
These Standards can cost miners hundreds or thousands of dollars, which could otherwise be spent on critical personnel or equipment.
There are currently 17 Australian Standards referenced in the model WHS laws set out by Safe Work Australia, which must be purchased, but dozens more are relevant to mining operations that are not mandatory.
Some of the mandatory Standards include regulation around pressure equipment, respiratory protective devices, electrical installations and personal equipment for working at height – just a few of the common and recurring practices with which those who work in the mining industry will be familiar.
This situation begs the question: if a Standard is enforceable by law, should it be available free of charge?
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Safety (AIHS), the answer is yes.
“We currently have an environment where cost pressures on businesses are significant,” AIHS chair Cameron Montgomery told Safe to Work. “Our concern is that businesses may forgo critical safety information because the cost becomes a barrier.”
For the AIHS, it’s not about making all Standards free; it’s about making sure businesses are given access to essential safety information that is relevant to them.
Montgomery believes any Standards referred to in legislation should not sit behind a paywall and should be freely available to those tasked with adhering to them.
“These documents are crucial to ensuring workplaces are safe and productive,” he said.
“Our members are telling us that free access to Standards would help to reduce the regulatory burden faced by business owners and safety professionals.”
According to Montgomery, most of the original pricing for Standards was set based on the number of physical pages printed. Nowadays, however, Standards are distributed digitally.
“At a minimum, costs should be reduced to reflect that,” he said.
The AIHS is currently campaigning to make mandatory Standards free for all businesses, calling on all levels of government to play their part in ensuring the minimum standards of safety can be met across Australia.
Montgomery said a precedent for cutting costs was set last year when several Standards were made free of charge – but the fact they did not relate to commercial use meant they were irrelevant to businesses.
“It’s not just business owners impacted by these costs,” he said. “For health and safety professionals, accessing the necessary Standards across several industries and jurisdictions can be a significant cost burden to maintaining current knowledge.
“It’s time these costs were removed to help businesses meet their obligations to operate safely and productively without having to be further out of pocket.
“Everybody deserves to go to work safe and come home safe.”
This feature also appears in the January-February issue of Safe to Work.