NSW Codes of Practice Enforceable

An amendment to the New South Wales WHS Act means that Approved Codes are now enforceable. A similar requirement already exists in Queensland and in Victoria’s Compliance Codes.

Duty holders must either comply with the Approved Code requirements, or implement alternate actions with equivalent or higher level of control.

Note: Approved Codes are different to regulation requirements, as strict compliance is required for regulations eg emergency stop buttons to be coloured red, as opposed to having the option to implement alternate actions eg brighter yellow stop buttons, as might be allowed with codes of practice.

This is important because it changes Approved Codes of Practice from guidance-style documents into stronger compliance expectations, which may require your business to review your procedures or risk controls if they don’t meet or exceed the code requirement.