Productivity is set to return to Queensland worksites under proposed changes to Workplace Health and Safety laws, introduced in Parliament last week. The reforms aim to reinstate a 24-hour notice period for permit holders seeking right of entry, bringing Queensland in line with the Commonwealth Fair Work Act. Exceptions will apply only in cases of immediate or imminent risks to workers' health and safety.
This shift follows the suspension of Best Practice Industry Conditions and underscores the Crisafulli Government’s commitment to balancing productivity with worker safety. Announced last Thursday, November 28, the changes mark a significant step towards restoring efficiency and fairness on Queensland worksites.
Legislation introduced to the Parliament in the Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games Arrangements and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024, will require Workplace Health and Safety permit holders to provide at least 24 hours’ notice to exercise their right of entry to a workplace.
Reintroducing the requirement to provide notice ensures management, and their safety specialists, are available on site when entry permit holders come on site to discuss any safety concerns.
The amendments also provide consistency with the requirements of the Commonwealth Fair Work Act 2009, which requires permit holders give at least 24 hours’ notice before exercising an entry right.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Industrial Relations Jarrod Bleijie said all Queenslanders had the right to go to work, get paid well and to come home safely to their family.
“These laws will stop the CFMEU using safety as an industrial weapon,” Mr Bleijie said.
“The CFMEU’s cultural practice of bullying and intimidation that we see on Queensland worksites against workers, contractors, employers and the independent public servants who protect workers safety must end.
“Reintroducing the requirement to provide at least 24 hours’ notice will provide a circuit breaker to recent tensions we’ve observed regarding entry and will provide employers with sufficient time to respond to WHS entry permit holders on issues that they may raise.
“The LNP Government backs workers, their wages and their safety.”
Recent changes introduced by the Electrical Safety and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024 to permit health and safety representatives (HSR) and WHS entry permit holders (EPHs) to take photos, videos, measurements and conduct tests at the workplace when undertaking their roles will no longer proceed.
This is following concerns raised by industry representatives about protecting the privacy of individuals in workplaces.
Following these immediate law changes being introduced, the Queensland Government will also turn focus on the work health and safety framework to address gaps in the legislation around work-related violence and aggression.
This will mean incidents of work-related violence and aggression, including physical and sexual assault, will come to the attention of the WHS Regulator, and that more serious events can be triaged for an inspectorate response.
Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie at the Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning and Office of Industrial Relations in Rockhampton