The provisions relating to the resolution of issues have been amended to clarify the circumstances in which a worker is entitled to refuse to work and receive payment where there is an imminent and serious risk to his or her safety or health. This change does not limit a worker's ability to refuse to work where his or her health or safety is threatened, but it does limit the capacity for occupational safety and health to be linked to unrelated industrial issues. The legislation has been amended to provide for the appointment of safety and health magistrates as the final arbiter of safety and health issues. Safety and health magistrates will take on the role currently performed by the Industrial Relations Commission, in a change intended to separate genuine occupational safety and health issues from mainstream industrial matters. The Act has a new name - the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
Safety now precedes health, reflecting the importance of safety issues in the workplace.
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