Western Australian Current Acts Western Australian Current Acts In this Act —
approved code of practice means a code of practice
approved under Part 14;
authorised , in Part 4 — see section 40;
Category 1 offence — see section 31;
Category 2 offence — see section 32;
Category 3 offence — see section 33;
chief executive , in relation to a Crown agency,
means the person who is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the
Crown agency;
Chief Inspector of Mines — see Schedule 1
Division 2;
Chief Inspector Petroleum Safety — see
Schedule 1 Division 2;
compliance powers means the functions and powers
conferred on an inspector under this Act;
condition includes limitation and restriction;
construct includes assemble, erect, reconstruct,
reassemble and re-erect;
corresponding regulator means the holder of a
public office, or a public authority, of the Commonwealth, or of another State
or a Territory, who or which is responsible for administering a corresponding
WHS law;
corresponding WHS law means a law, or a part of a
law, of the Commonwealth, or of another State or a Territory, that is
prescribed as a corresponding WHS law;
covert operation means the performance of a
function, or the exercise of a power, of a police officer in circumstances
where —
(a) a
covert operation is undertaken by WA Police for the purpose of obtaining
information about criminal activity; and
(b) the
performance of the function, or the exercise of the power, is not reasonably
practicable without exposing a police officer to a serious risk to the police
officer’s health or safety emanating from an immediate or imminent
exposure to a hazard; and
(c)
unless the performance of the function, or the exercise of the power, is
secret or confidential, it would be likely that —
(i)
the effectiveness of the performance of the function, or
the exercise of the power, is reduced; or
(ii)
a person is exposed to the danger of physical harm
arising from the actions of another person;
Crown agency means —
(a) a
department of the Public Service; or
(b) WA
Police; or
(c) any
other agency of the Crown that is not a body corporate;
dangerous incident , in Part 3 — see
section 37;
dangerous operation means the performance of a
function, or the exercise of a power, of a police officer in circumstances
where the performance of that function, or the exercise of that power —
(a) is
reasonably necessary; and
(b) is
not reasonably practicable without exposing a police officer to a serious risk
to the police officer’s health or safety emanating from an immediate or
imminent exposure to a hazard;
demolition includes deconstruction;
design , in relation to plant, a substance or a
structure, includes —
(a)
design of part of the plant, substance or structure; and
(b)
redesign or modify a design;
disclose , in relation to information, includes
divulge or communicate to any person or publish;
discriminatory conduct , in Part 6 — see
section 105;
document includes anything that falls within 1 or
more of the following paragraphs —
(a) a
record of information, irrespective of how the information is recorded or
stored or able to be recovered;
(b) a
thing on which there is writing;
(c) a
map, plan, graph, drawing or photograph;
(d) a
thing on which there are marks, figures, symbols or perforations that have a
meaning for persons qualified to interpret them;
(e) a
thing from which images, sounds or writings can be reproduced with or without
the aid of anything else;
(f) a
thing on which information is recorded or stored, whether electronically,
magnetically, mechanically or by some other means;
eligible person , in Part 12 — see
section 223;
employer organisation means an association or
organisation of employers;
handling includes transport;
health means physical and psychological health;
health and safety duty — see section 30;
health and safety representative , in relation to
a worker, means the health and safety representative elected under Part 5 for
the work group of which the worker is a member;
import means to bring into the State, whether from
outside Australia or otherwise;
industrial manslaughter — see section 30A;
inspector means an inspector appointed under Part
9;
internal reviewer means —
(a) the
regulator; or
(b) a
person appointed by the regulator under section 225;
IR entry authority means —
(a) a
right of entry permit as defined in the Industrial Relations Act 1979 section
49G(1); or
(b) a
permit issued under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Commonwealth) section 512;
local government member means —
(a) a
member of the council of a local government, or of the council of a regional
local government, acting in that capacity; or
(b) a
member of the governing body of a regional subsidiary acting in that capacity,
if the member was appointed to the governing body in their capacity as a
member of the council of a local government involved in the formation of the
regional subsidiary;
notifiable incident — see section 35;
officer — see section 4A;
person conducting a business or undertaking
— see section 5;
plant includes —
(a) any
machinery, equipment, appliance, container, implement and tool; and
(b) any
component of any of those things; and
(c)
anything fitted or connected to any of those things;
prohibited reason , in Part 6 — see
section 106;
provide , in relation to a document, includes
produce;
public corporation means —
(a) a
local government, regional local government or regional subsidiary; or
(b) any
other body corporate established or continued for a public purpose under a
written law;
reasonably practicable , in relation to a duty to
ensure health and safety — see section 18;
regulator means the WorkSafe Commissioner —
see Schedule 1 Division 1;
remuneration has the meaning given in the
Salaries and Allowances Act 1975 section 4(1);
representative , in relation to a worker, means
—
(a) the
health and safety representative for the worker; or
(b) a
union representing the worker; or
(c) any
other person the worker authorises to represent the worker;
reviewable decision , in Part 12 — see
section 223;
serious injury or illness , in Part 3 — see
section 36;
structure means anything that is constructed,
whether fixed or moveable, temporary or permanent, and includes —
(a)
buildings, masts, towers, framework, pipelines, transport infrastructure and
underground works (shafts or tunnels); and
(b) any
component of a structure; and
(c) part
of a structure;
substance means any natural or artificial
substance, whether in the form of a solid, liquid, gas or vapour;
supply — see section 6;
Tribunal means the Work Health and Safety Tribunal
— see Schedule 1 Division 5;
union means —
(a) an
employee organisation that is registered, or taken to be registered, under the
Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009 (Commonwealth); or
(b) an
organisation of employees, or an association of employees, registered under
the Industrial Relations Act 1979 ;
volunteer means a person who is acting on a
voluntary basis (irrespective of whether the person receives out-of-pocket
expenses);
WA Police means the Police Force of Western
Australia provided for by the Police Act 1892 ;
WHS authority means any of the following —
(a) the
Minister;
(b) the
WHS department or a person working in the WHS department;
(c) an
inspector or a person assisting an inspector under section 166, 167B(7) or
167D;
(d) the
holder, or a person acting as the holder, of an office under Schedule 1
Division 1 or 2;
(e) a
body established or appointed under Schedule 1 Division 3 or 4;
(f) a
member, or a person acting as a member, of a body established or appointed
under Schedule 1 Division 3 or 4;
(g) any
other person engaged in the administration of this Act;
WHS department means the department of the Public
Service principally assisting in the administration of this Act;
WHS undertaking means an undertaking given under
section 216(1);
worker — see section 7;
work group means a work group determined under
Part 5;
Work Health and Safety Commission — see
Schedule 1 Division 3;
workplace — see section 8.
[Section 4 amended: No. 43 of 2024 s. 160.]