- The new WHS laws that commenced in 2012 define volunteers as workers, giving them the same duties under the Act as other workers. - Organizations now have a positive duty to ensure worker and volunteer health and safety, including providing the right equipment/education and reviewing safety procedures. - Workers and volunteers must take reasonable care of their own safety, comply with instructions, and cooperate with the organization's safety policies. - Officers, including volunteer officers, have due diligence obligations to continuously learn about safety issues and ensure the organization has safety processes, though volunteer officers cannot be prosecuted for failing these duties.

1. South East Queensland Small Museums Conference
20 October 2012
Information in this presentation is from the safework Australia website and ‘The Essential Guide to
Work Health and Safety for Organisations that Engage Volunteers’.

2. WH&S – Model Laws
 New work health and safety laws commenced in
NSW, Queensland, the ACT, NT and the
Commonwealth on 1 January 2012
 This means that persons conducting a business or
undertaking (PCBU/organisations) and
workers, including volunteers, in these jurisdictions
are protected by same WHS laws.

3. WH&S – Model Laws
 Who is a Volunteer?
 Volunteers = workers
 Workers and volunteers have the same duties
under the Act
 A volunteer may also be an officer

4. WH&S – What changed?
 Positive obligation
 Reasonably practicable

5. What does that mean?
 Identifying hazards, assessing and controlling risk;
 Providing the right equipment and education;
 Talking and consulting with your workers and
volunteers about safety matters that affect them;
 Acting on ‘near misses’ and adjusting procedures so
they don’t happen again; and
 Reviewing your control measures – are they still the
right ones, are they working?

6. WH&S – What changed?
 Requirement for workers, including volunteers, to:
 Take reasonable care of own health and safety at work
and to ensure others are not put at risk or adversely
affected by their actions;
 Comply with instructions so far as they are reasonable
able; and
 Cooperate with any reasonable policy and/or procedure
of the in relation to workplace health and safety

7. Don’t Panic!
 If your organisation is run by volunteers, this
will be taken into account in determining what
is reasonably practicable for the organisation to
do in any given circumstance.

8. WH&S – What changed?
 The definition of an Officer was widened and made
more explicit
 Officers have a duty of due diligence
 Officers have an obligation to report

9. Officer’s Obligations
 Due Diligence - must take reasonable steps to:
 Continuously learn about and keep up to date with WH&S
matters
 Understand the nature of the work the organisation does and
stay aware of the risks workers and volunteers may face
 Have appropriate resources and processes to eliminate or
minimise risks to health and safety
 Have processes in place for communicating, considering and
responding to information about WH&S issues
 Ensure the organisation has, and implements, processes for
complying with any duties and requirements under WHS law.

10. Officer’s Obligations
 A volunteer officer cannot be prosecuted for failing
to comply with their officer duties under the WHS Act.
 A volunteer officer can be prosecuted in their
capacity as a worker if they do not take reasonable care
as a worker.
 Officers who are not volunteers can be prosecuted
for failing to comply with due diligence duties under
the WHS Act.

11. What does this all mean?
 Have a plan
 Walk
 Talk
 Follow instructions
 Keep a central record

12. More Information:
http://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/sites/SWA/Legislation/volunteers/Pages/Resource-kit.aspx