Queensland Consolidated Acts Queensland Consolidated Acts(1) The objective of this Act is to prevent a person's death, injury or illness being caused by a workplace, by a relevant workplace area, by work activities, or by plant or substances for use at a workplace.
Example of an illness caused by a workplace--
asthma caused by inhaling spray paint mist from a neighbouring workplace
Example of an illness caused by a work activity--
carbon monoxide poisoning caused by a liquefied petroleum gas operated forklift being used in a coldroom
Example of an illness caused by plant--
legionnaire's disease caused by inhaling legionella bacteria from the contaminated cooling tower of an air conditioning unit
(2) The objective is achieved by preventing or minimising a person's exposure to the risk of death, injury or illness caused by a workplace, by a relevant workplace area, by work activities, or by plant or substances for use at a workplace.
(3) This Act establishes a framework for preventing or minimising exposure to risk by--
(a) imposing workplace health and safety obligations on certain persons who may affect the health and safety of others by their acts or omissions; and
(b) establishing benchmarks for industry through the making of regulations and codes of practice; and
(c) establishing a workplace health and safety board--
(i) to allow industry to participate in developing strategies for improving workplace health and safety; and
(ii) to promote community awareness about workplace health and safety; and
(d) providing for the development of accredited training programs for delivery and assessment of competence by--
(i) accredited providers; and
(ii) registered training organisations as defined under the Vocational Education, Training and Employment Act 2000, section 14; and
(e) providing for the election of workplace health and safety representatives, and the establishment of workplace health and safety committees, to foster cooperation between employers, principal contractors, and workers; and
(f) providing for the appointment of--
(i) workplace health and safety officers to assist employers and principal contractors to manage workplace health and safety; and
(ii) accredited providers to assist industry in managing particular risks; and
(iii) inspectors to monitor and enforce compliance with this Act; and
(iv) authorised representatives to help workers with workplace health and safety issues; and
(g) providing for the collection of a workplace health and safety contribution and for the collection of statistical data for the purposes of workplace health and safety regulation and related education and prevention services.
(4) The achievement of this Act's objective will help--
(a) reduce the human cost to individuals, families and the community caused by these deaths, injuries and illnesses; and
(b) reduce the financial burden on individuals, families and the community caused by these deaths, injuries and illnesses; and
(c) reduce the burden on the workers' compensation scheme caused by these deaths, injuries and illnesses, which in turn reduces costs imposed on industry; and
(d) maintain the community standard for workplace health and safety, which is eroded when persons gain an unfair competitive advantage by not implementing appropriate standards.