OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT 2000 - SECT 26 Officers of corporations required to exercise due diligence

This legislation has been repealed.

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT 2000 - SECT 26

26 Officers of corporations required to exercise due diligence

(1) If a corporation has a duty or obligation under a relevant provision, an officer of the corporation must exercise due diligence to ensure that the corporation complies with that duty or obligation.

Maximum penalty: the same maximum penalty that is applicable to a failure by an individual to comply with the duty or obligation.

(2) The following provisions are "relevant provisions" for the purposes of this section:

(a) Division 1 (General duties) of Part 2 (Duties relating to health, safety and welfare at work),

(b) Division 2 (Duty to consult) of Part 2,

(c) Division 4 (Incidents at places of work) of Part 5 (Investigations),

(d) any provision of the regulations that is stated to be a relevant provision for the purposes of this section.

(3) In this section, "due diligence" includes taking reasonable steps:

(a) to acquire and keep up-to-date knowledge of occupational health and safety matters, and

(b) to gain an understanding of the nature of the operations of the trade, business or other undertaking of the corporation and generally of the hazards and risks associated with those operations, and

(c) to ensure that the corporation has available for use, and uses, appropriate resources and processes to eliminate or minimise risks to health and safety from work carried out as part of the conduct of the trade, business or other undertaking of the corporation, and

(d) to ensure that the corporation has appropriate processes for receiving and considering information regarding incidents, hazards and risks and responding in a timely way to that information, and

(e) to ensure that the corporation has, and implements, processes for complying with any duty or obligation of the corporation under the relevant provisions of this Act, and

For the purposes of paragraph (e), the duties or obligations of a corporation under the relevant provisions of this Act may include:

• giving notice of notifiable incidents,

• consulting with employees,

• complying with notices issued under this Act,

• providing training and instruction to employees about occupational health and safety,

• ensuring that OHS representatives undertake any required course of training.

(f) to verify the provision and use of the resources and processes referred to in paragraphs (c)-(e).

(4) A person may be proceeded against and convicted of an offence under subsection (1) whether or not the corporation has been proceeded against or has been convicted of an offence in relation to the duty or obligation.

(5) An officer of a corporation who is a volunteer is not liable to be prosecuted under this section for anything done or omitted to be done by the person as a volunteer.

(6) This section does not affect any liability imposed on a corporation for a failure to comply with the duty or obligation concerned.

(7) In this section:

"corporation" means any body corporate (including a body corporate representing the Crown).

"officer" means an officer within the meaning of section 9 of the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth, but does not include a Minister of the Crown acting in that capacity, an elected member of a local authority acting in that capacity or a partner in a partnership.

"volunteer" has the same meaning as in section 60 of the Civil Liability Act 2002 .

Note: That section provides that a volunteer is a person who does community work on a voluntary basis.