The New Work Health and Safety Legislation A Practical Guide

The new Work Health and Safety uniform laws impose extensive obligations on those who conduct a business or undertaking to ensure the safety of anyone who may be affected by the operation of the business or undertaking. These obligations are not confined to the safety of employees and will cover customers, members of the public and even trespassers across most of Australia. Directors and managers are particularly vulnerable under the new law. There are hundreds of provisions which create penalties, many of them criminal. Conviction will expose defendants to large fines, costs orders and in some cases imprisonment. Authored by the Hon Francis Marks, former Judge of the Industrial Court of New South Wales, and industrial law specialists Deborah Dinnen and Lauren Fieldus, this book describes obligations under the law in clear and concise language and explains what needs to be done to comply with them.

Introduction General principles applying to all duties Acquiring licences, registration and permissions Dealing with work health and safety issues Codes of practice Construction work Working from home, home offices and home base Additional protection for workers and others against discrimination, coercion, inducement and misrepresentation Notification of incidents and legal professional privilege Investigations Enforcement Index

Francis Marks, known by everyone except his late mother as Frank, recently retired after almost 20 years as a Judge of the Industrial Relations Commission of NSW, where he spent some time hearing prosecutions under the former NSW Occupational Health and Safety Act. He previously practised as a solicitor for 30 years specialising in labour law, insurance law and aviation law. He has held lecturing positions at a number of universities, and is the author of a number of legal texts. He is now practising as a mediator and arbitrator, and is an Acting Judge in the District Court of NSW. Deborah Dinnen is a Barrister at 6 and 7 St James’ Hall Chambers, Sydney. She specialises in employment and industrial law, administrative law, human rights, and regulatory matters. Until she was called to the Bar in March 2011, Deborah worked as a solicitor at the Australian Government Solicitor, where she advised and appeared for government departments and agencies in a broad range of practise areas. Earlier in her career, Deborah was tipstaff to her co-author, Frank Marks, when he was a judicial member of the NSW Industrial Relations Commission. Deborah has extensive experience in complex statutory interpretation and regularly appears as an advocate in NSW and Federal Courts and Tribunals. Lauren Fieldus is a practising solicitor at Wotton + Kearney, specialising in Industrial Special Risks, Directors & Officers and Professional Indemnity Insurance. Lauren advises insurance companies on issues of indemnity and liability as well as assisting in the resolution of disputes through mediation and court processes. Before being admitted, Lauren was a tipstaff to co-author Frank Marks, when he was a judicial member of the Industrial Relations Commission. In this role, Lauren gained an in-depth knowledge of the way courts interpret and enforce work, health and safety legislation and the obligations imposed on those who choose to operate their own business or undertaking.