SafeWork NSW has published practical online tools to support officers to better understand their due diligence obligations under work health and safety laws.
There is a legal obligation for officers to exercise due diligence to ensure their businesses meet work health and safety (WHS) obligations under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011.
This includes understanding risks, ensuring the right resources and processes are in place, and verifying these controls are working in practice.
Available online, the self-assessment tool is designed to assist officers in gaining knowledge on how to meet their work health and safety duties, identify gaps in their understanding and address them as part of continuous improvement activities.
A quick reference guide, developed to support officers complete the tool, provides further guidance on the basics of due diligence including who may be an officer, duties of officers and practical steps to support them in meeting their compliance obligations.
Once completed, officers will receive a personalised report giving clear ratings and practical improvement actions.
Read more about the due diligence obligations for officers, including the self-assessment tool.
Quotes attributable to SafeWork Commissioner Janet Schorer:
“Due diligence is taking resonable steps to secure safety compliance at work. It is an ongoing legal duty to keep workers, visitors and volunteers safe.”
“Industry feedback tells us some officers find due diligence difficult to apply in their day‑to‑day leadership.”
“These practical resources will help officers understand and meet their work health and safety obligations.”
“I encourage all officers to take advantage of these tools to strengthen their due diligence capability, build stronger safety leadership and improve work health and safety outcomes across industry.”
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