The effectiveness of model work health and safety laws

Project leader(s)
Funding agency
Research into Australia’s harmonised work health and safety (WHS) laws
With funding from Safe Work Australia, NRCOHSR researchers are conducting an integrated series of research projects examining the implementation and impact of Australia’s harmonised work health and safety (WHS) laws.
The projects are examining:
how the courts are interpreting the WHS laws, and how they are using fines and non-pecuniary sanctions in sentencing those found to be in breach of the laws;
how WHS regulators support compliance, undertake inspections and enforce the WHS Acts and regulations;
the effectiveness of approved codes of practice and guidance/advisory material in providing practical guidance to support compliance with the WHS laws;
the application of risk-based principles in regulatory design, administration, inspection and enforcement, and the strengths and weaknesses of this approach in WHS regulation;
the use and effectiveness of documentation standards (safe work method statements (SWMS) and WHS management plans in construction work; and
national and international regulatory and advisory frameworks for managing psychosocial risks such as stressors, violence, bullying and harassment at work.
The findings from the research projects will enhance understanding of the efficacy of the harmonised WHS laws, and inform recommendations relating to WHS regulatory design and implementation.

Dr Liz Bluff
Dr Elizabeth (Liz) Bluff is a Visiting Fellow with RegNet. She is the author of Safe Design and Construction of Machinery: Regulation, Practice and Performance (Ashgate 2015), co-author of Work...

Mr Xiaojun Chen
Thesis topic: Regulation and Business Behaviour: An Empirical Study in China

Professor Neil Gunningham
Neil Gunningham has degrees in law and criminology from Sheffield University, UK, is a Barrister and Solicitor (ACT) and holds a PhD from...

Ms Mary Ivec
Mary Ivec holds post-graduate degrees in social policy, social work and counselling having completed her Bachelor of Arts (Sociology and Politics) at the ANU. Mary has...

Professor Richard Johnstone
Richard Johnstone was the foundation Director of the National Research Centre for OHS Regulation (NRCOHSR), in the Regulatory Institutions...

Society, safety and health
The Society, Safety and Health cluster has four research themes:
- Policy processes and the social determinants of health inequities
- Governance for health equity
- Food systems, nutrition and climate change
- Regulation and governance of health care systems