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 WHS Training: What Training?

There are four duty holders identified under WHS Law (all states and territories with the exception of Victoria have the same duty holders.)

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1. PCBU (Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking.) A PCBU is a business, organisation, or corporation that employs people to do work for them. In addition to legal entities, a PCBU may also be an individual such as a sole trader (they are employing themselves.) A contractor to another company is a PCBU. There may be multiple PCBU's sharing the same premises. (See WHS Act, Sections 19, 20, 21.)

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2. Officers of the PCBU. These are business owners, company directors and CEOs. They have the authority to make major decisions for the business. They carry out the day-to-day operations of the undertaking and may be personally liable in the event of a breach. Under WHS Law, officers have an active role in ensuring a PCBU is meeting it's mandatory obligations. (See WHS Act, Section 27.)

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3. Workers. These are the people in the workforce that do the work. This includes the people who supervise and manage others. When an officer is performing work as a worker he/she is considered a "worker" for that activity. (See WHS Act, Section 28)

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4. Others. These are persons who visit a work site that are not staff. They can be customers, contractors, visitors, and service people who come to your workplace. (See WHS Act, Section 29.)

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Health and Safety training may be specific for each duty holder or apply to multiple duty holders.

 

Two pieces of legislation govern WHS law for all businesses in NSW: The WHS Act 2011, and the WHS Regulation 2017. There is other legislation for specific industries but the WHS Act and WHS Regulation applies to all individuals, companies, organisations, and corporations that employ people.  ​

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Recommended training for officers: business owners, company directors, and CEOs

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  • Officers of a PCBU have specific WHS duties under Section 27 of the WHS Act. These duties apply to business owners, company directors, and CEOs and are non delegable duties. We recommend directors and CEOs who are interested in their specific duties as officers attend the Courtenell WHS Due Diligence for Officers 

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  • PCBUs must have measures in place to consult with staff on WHS matters. There are many ways that consultation can take place so long as those activities are in accordance with Sections 46-49 of the WHS Act. If your business is looking at formalizing its WHS consultation arrangements and wants to explore the various ways they might be able to achieve this we recommend directors, CEOs, and senior managers attend the Courtenell WHS Consultation Compliance course.

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  • The PCBU is responsible for the creation of the WHS management system. Officers must ensure that it exists, and supervisors and managers must supervise and manage staff to follow the rules, including correct use of PPE. Managers and supervisors must also ensure customers, and site visitors follow all safety protocols while at the workplace. Workers must follow the rules. A course that addresses all WHS duty holders and their duties and how they interrelate in the workplace is the Courtenell WHS Responsibilities for Duty Holders course.

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  • Psychosocial hazards and risks are to be managed in the same way as any other physical risks in the workplace as per amendments made to the NSW WHS Regulation in 2022. Psychosocial is no longer just the domain of HR. It is the duty of the PCBU to manage risks. We recommend directors, CEOs and senior managers attend the Courtenell Psychosocial Risk Management Course.

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  • Under the Legislation Act 2003 all businesses and legal entities must adhere to local state or territory laws when the business or entity has a presence in that state or territory. Victoria is not on the Model WHS laws and a NSW WHS management system cannot be extended to VIC operations without being modified. For businesses that have operations in Victoria we recommend directors, CEOs and senior managers attend the Courtenell OHS Law for Employers & Officers (Victoria) course.

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Recommended training for the Leadership team, managers, and supervisors

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  • Every person in a workplace is a WHS duty holder. Each duty holder has WHS duties. Some may share the same duties. The PCBU is responsible for the creation of the WHS management system. Officers must ensure that it exists, and supervisors and managers must supervise and manage staff to follow the rules of the system. A course that addresses all WHS duty holders and their duties and how they interrelate in the workplace is the Courtenell WHS Responsibilities for Duty Holders course.

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  • It is the duty of the PCBU to manage hazards and risks in the workplace. How business owners and directors ensure this is by utilising their leadership team to successful employ WHS risk management principles to either eliminate or control hazards and risks in the workplace. Supervisors and managers need to be aware of risk management principles as they may be the first to come upon a hazard or risk to be handled on an immediate basis and report them to management. We recommend the leadership team and front-line supervisors and managers attend the Courtenell Management of WHS Risks Course.

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  • Psychosocial hazards and risks are to be managed in the same way as any other physical risks in the workplace as per amendments made to the NSW WHS Regulation in 2022. Psychosocial is no longer just the domain of HR. Supervisors and managers need to be alert to how staff are being treated and that bullies, "gaslighters", and antisocial staff are caught before hazards become incidents. To support the actions of management to manage risks we recommend your leadership team also attend the Courtenell Psychosocial Risk Management Course.

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  • A WHS risk management course that is a practical program with minimal theory may benefit front-line supervisors and workers. Courtenell offers a practical course delivered at your premises that uses your company risk assessment tools to assess / review and manage / validate real-world hazards, risks and risk controls in the workplace and have the facilitator at their disposal for any questions or assistance. For a practical WHS risk assessment course we recommend persons attend the Courtenell WHS Risk Assessment Course (Specialised) course.

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Recommended training for health and safety representatives (HSRs)
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  • HSRs are elected to represent groups of workers who have been categorised into identified "work groups" for the purposes of WHS consultation. A PCBU has an obligation to train HSRs upon request. SafeWork NSW has an initial course and a refresher course for HSRs. Courtenell is a SafeWork NSW Approved Training Provider (ATP) for the delivery of both these courses. For new HSRs we recommend they attend the HSR Initial 5 Day course (Safework NSW Approved).

 

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Recommended training for health and safety committees (HSCs)
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Recommended training for high risk industries​
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  • Specific licenses are required to perform work classified in the WHS Regulations as "High Risk." The Regulations specify the course of training required to obtain a license for each category. Some examples are Working at Heights and Working in Confined Spaces. A PCBU may not allow anyone to perform high risk work for them who is not licensed for that work. Courtenell delivers several "awareness courses" in various high-risk areas. These courses are not accredited but may serve as evidence of training for internal audits or continuous improvement programs. We recommend the appropriate high risk training here. 

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