Officers, workers and other persons at the workplace hold health and safety duties. Officers must exercise due diligence to ensure that the person conducting the business or undertaking complies with its duties or obligations under the Model Work Health and Safety Act (Model Act).

Workers have a duty to take reasonable care for their own health and safety; to take reasonable care that their acts or omissions do not adversely affect the health and safety of others; to comply with reasonable instructions and to cooperate with reasonable policies and procedures relating to health and safety at work.

The duty of workers applies while they are “at work”. The duty of workers is not mutually exclusive of the duty of officers — an officer is likely to meet the definition of a worker and thus hold the duty of a worker as well as the duty of due diligence in their capacity as an officer.

Other persons at the workplace, including all visitors to a workplace (for example, customers) have a duty to take reasonable care for their own health and safety; to take reasonable care that their acts and omissions do not adversely affect the health and safety of others; and to comply with reasonable instruction given by the persons conducting the business or undertaking relating to health and safety.

See Duties of workers and other persons at a workplace.