In a Bill passed by the NSW Parliament earlier this month, a number of reforms were enacted that will make the lives of workers and business owners healthier, safer and more productive.

These reforms will also assist in improving compliance and enforcement measures for the NSW WHS Regulators.

These reforms include:

• adding “gross negligence” as a fault element for category 1 offences to make it easier to prosecute and create a stronger incentive for duty holders to manage WHS risks
• prohibiting insurance and indemnity arrangements for paying WHS fines
• increasing penalty amounts for all WHS offences in line with the Consumer Price Index so that they retain their deterrent value
• extending the timeframe in which a WHS Regulator can bring a prosecution for a category 1 or 2 offence and requiring the WHS regulator provide regular updates to the requester until a decision to prosecute is made
• clarifying that a Health and Safety Representative (HSR) can choose their course of training.

For further information please visit the SafeWork NSW website or phone 13 10 50.