Work health and safety laws

Work health and safety laws aim to protect the health, safety and welfare of all workers at work. The laws also protect the health and safety of other people who might be affected by the work.

Queensland's work health and safety legal framework includes:

• the Work Health and Safety Act 2011
• the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011
• codes of practice.

The Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act) sets out requirements and standards for building healthy and safe workplaces. It sets out what you must do to protect the health, safety and welfare of workers and other people in place of work. It puts legal obligations, or duties, on you and your workers.

The Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Regulation) provides detailed information on how to prevent or minimise risks in your place of work.

If you're doing business in Queensland, you must take reasonable steps to eliminate or minimise risks and put in place an effective risk management process.

Provisions in the Regulation (like the Act) are legally enforceable.

Also consider...

• Find out more about work health and safety.