Time to update your codes of practice?
11/04/2019
On 1 April 2016, the 23 codes of practice made under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Cth) (WHS Act) were revoked and remade as separate instruments.
The codes of practice, developed by Safe Work Australia, are practical guides to achieving the standards required under the WHS Act. The following is a list of the 23 codes currently in place:
- Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work (revised and updated)
- Hazardous Manual Tasks (revised and updated)
- Confined Spaces (revised and updated)
- Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces (revised and updated)
- Preparation of Safety Data Sheets for Hazardous Chemicals (revised and updated)
- Labelling of Workplace Hazardous Chemicals (revised and updated)
- How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace (revised and updated)
- How to Safely Remove Asbestos (revised and updated)
- First Aid in the Workplace (revised and updated)
- Construction Work (revised and updated)
- Preventing Falls in Housing Construction (revised and updated)
- Managing Electrical Risks at the Workplace (revised and updated)
- Managing the Risks of Plant in the Workplace (revised and updated)
- Welding Processes (revised and updated)
- Excavation Work (revised and updated)
- Demolition Work (revised and updated)
- Spray Painting and Powder Coating (revised and updated)
- How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks
- Managing the Work Environment and Facilities
- Work Health and Safety Consultation, Co-operation and Co-ordination
- Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace
- Safe Design of Structures
- Abrasive Blasting
Prior to this revocation, the 23 codes were contained within two instruments, being the Work Health and Safety Codes of Practice 2011 (Cth)and the Work Health and Safety Codes of Practice 2012 (Cth) . The codes have now been remade as 23 separate instruments, with the content of the codes remaining largely unchanged.
The focus of the revocation and remaking of the codes as separate instruments is to improve the accessibility of the codes and streamline the process for making future updates to the codes.
It is expected that the states and territories will assess the amended codes of practice and move to revoke and remake their codes to align with the changes made at the Commonwealth level. On this front, we will continue to keep you up to date as and when these changes take place.
Ensuring that your safety management system is current with the updated codes of practice will demonstrate that you are taking all reasonably practicable steps to manage safety in your business. To this extent, WorkSafe Connect will maintain key codes of practice both at a Commonwealth and State level on our recently launched Resources Page – a one stop shop for all critical resources associated with compliance, safety, and training.
The WorkSafe Connect Resources page can be accessed by the following link: