News & Updates
WHS guides in plain English

Going after bigger contracts? Here are the WHS documents tenders and prequalification platforms like Cm3 and Avetta usually ask for, and how to get them ready.

You don't need a document called a WHS manual. You do need a way of managing WHS that is written down, understood by your workers, used in practice, and reviewed. For almost every small business, a manual is the simplest way to have that, and the only practical way to prove it when someone asks.

If you run a company in Australia, there are two safety duties in play, not one. The business holds the primary duty to provide a safe workplace. Separately, the company's officers hold a personal duty to exercise due diligence to make sure the business actually meets it. Two duties, enforced separately.

Discover how to implement office ergonomics in plain English for small businesses. Learn why proper setup matters and prevent injuries today.

Do I Need an Alcohol and Drugs Policy for My Business? You have a legal duty to protect your workers from risks to their health and safety, so far as is reasonably practicable, and impairment is one of those risks. Without something written down, you have no practical way to meet that duty, and no way to show you tried.

An inspection and an audit are two different jobs. An audit looks at the system behind the workplace. Do we have a written procedure for this task, is anyone actually following it, and could we prove it if someone asked.

A Safe Work Method Statement is one of the few WHS documents that Australian law names specifically and requires in specific circumstances. Not recommended. Required, in writing, before the work starts. And the circumstances catch far more businesses than the phrase "high risk construction work" suggests.

If a product carries a hazard pictogram on its label, the law treats it as a hazardous chemical, and that brings a few duties with it. Here is the plain-English version of what those duties are, who they apply to, and how to get on top of them without turning it into a week of paperwork.

Every state and territory in Australia places active obligations on employers to support an injured worker's return to work. Those obligations go well beyond paperwork. They involve providing suitable duties, consulting with the worker and their treating doctor, developing a documented return-to-work plan, and in some cases appointing a return-to-work coordinator. Getting this right matters for the worker's recovery and for your business.

This post covers what the hierarchy actually requires, where PPE fits within it, what your obligations are when you do use PPE, and how to manage it properly without drowning in paperwork.

A workplace inspection should be scheduled, structured, documented, and be followed up. It produces a record. And for small Australian businesses, it's one of the most straightforward, and most commonly skipped, ways to meet your WHS obligations.

Under section 47 of the WHS Act, every PCBU has to consult with workers on health and safety matters, so far as is reasonably practicable.

This guide walks through what an Australian workplace emergency plan actually needs to include, the most common gaps we see in small business plans, and a step-by-step process to build one (or update yours) in an afternoon.

Ask most small business owners if they do risk assessments and they'll say yes. They think about the job before they start. They spot the obvious hazards. They tell their workers to be careful. They've been doing this for years and, so far, nothing bad has happened. Here's the uncomfortable truth: informal hazard thinking is not the same as a risk assessment. And under Australian WHS law, only one of them satisfies your legal obligation. This guide explains what risk assessme