Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2016L00408:body:0:p15
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2016L00408
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 36835–39677

representatives and committees.

4.4        Sharing consultation arrangements with other duty holders
If you have contractors or on-hire workers as part of your workforce you share a duty of care to these workers as well as consultation duties with the business that provides them. You should consult, co-operate and co-ordinate activities with the contractor or on-hire firm to develop your shared consultation arrangements with the workers. In doing this you should consider the types
of issues that may arise where you would need to consult the contractor or on-hire firm and their workers.
For example, you may propose to change the work carried out by contractors. This may involve changing the equipment, substances or materials used in the production process or the way tasks are carried out. You should ask:
    * How should I inform and discuss proposed changes with the contractors' on-hire or contractor firm?
    * How should we both co-ordinate consultation with the affected workers?
    * How should we each respond to a safety issue raised by one or more of the contractors or to
      a request from the workers to be represented by a health and safety representative?
A health and safety committee may be in place at the workplace and may be an effective way of consulting with workers, or between duty holders.

4.5        How should the consultation arrangements be reviewed?
When you have established ways to consult on health and safety that suit your workplace, you should monitor and review these procedures in consultation with workers and health and safety representatives to ensure that consultation meets the requirements under the WHS Act and Regulations.

A checklist of things to consider when reviewing consultation arrangements is at Appendix B.

    5.             HOw to consult, co-operate and co-ordinate activities with other duty holders

There are often situations where more than one business or undertaking operates at a workplace and where people share responsibility for work health and safety to varying degrees, for example shopping centres, construction projects, labour hire and multi-tenanted office buildings.

Section 16: The WHS Act requires that where more than one person has a duty for the same matter, each person retains responsibility for their duty in relation to the matter and must discharge the duty to the extent to which the person can influence and control the matter.

Section 46: In these situations, each person with the duty must, so far as is reasonably practicable, consult, co-operate and co-ordinate activities with all other persons who have a work health or safety duty in relation to the same matter.

People often assume that someone else is going to take action for health and safety, perhaps because that other person is more directly involved in the activity.