New South Wales Consolidated Regulations

WORK HEALTH AND SAFETY REGULATION 2017 - REG 78

78 Management of risk of fall

(1) A person conducting a business or undertaking at a workplace must manage, in accordance with Part 3.1, risks to health and safety associated with a fall by a person from one level to another that is reasonably likely to cause injury to the person or any other person.

Note : WHS Act--section 19 (see clause 9).

(2) Subclause (1) includes the risk of a fall--

(a) in or on an elevated workplace from which a person could fall, or

(b) in the vicinity of an opening through which a person could fall, or

(c) in the vicinity of an edge over which a person could fall, or

(d) on a surface through which a person could fall, or

(e) in any other place from which a person could fall.

(3) A person conducting a business or undertaking must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that any work that involves the risk of a fall to which subclause (1) applies is carried out on the ground or on a solid construction.

: Maximum penalty--

(a) in the case of an individual--70 penalty units, or

(b) in the case of a body corporate--345 penalty units.

(4) A person conducting a business or undertaking must provide safe means of access to and exit from--

(a) the workplace, and

(b) any area within the workplace referred to in subclause (2).

: Maximum penalty--

(a) in the case of an individual--70 penalty units, or

(b) in the case of a body corporate--345 penalty units.

(5) In this clause,
"solid construction" means an area that has--

(a) a surface that is structurally capable of supporting all persons and things that may be located or placed on it, and

(b) barriers around its perimeter and any openings to prevent a fall, and

(c) an even and readily negotiable surface and gradient, and

(d) a safe means of entry and exit.