Every NSW employer carries a personal legal duty to keep their workers safe. That duty is set by the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 and policed by SafeWork NSW, the state regulator. Get it right, and you protect lives, lower workers’ compensation premiums, and run a more productive operation. Get it wrong, and you face prosecution, multi-million dollar fines, and, since September 2024, the possibility of an industrial manslaughter charge that carries up to 25 years imprisonment.
This guide breaks down WHS compliance for employers in NSW into clear, practical sections. You will see what your legal duties are, what training your team needs, how compliance applies in high-risk industries, what counts as a notifiable incident, and what happens when SafeWork NSW takes enforcement action. By the end, you will know exactly where your business stands and what to focus on next.
What is WHS Compliance for Employers?
WHS compliance requires you to meet all the legal duties a business has under work health and safety legislation. In NSW, that means complying with the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025, and approved codes of practice issued by SafeWork NSW.
For employers, compliance is not a paperwork exercise. It is the active, ongoing management of safety risks across the entire business. SafeWork NSW defines the responsible party as a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU). Almost every employer in NSW is a PCBU, and so are sole traders, partnerships, and not-for-profit organisations operating commercially.
A compliant employer must:
- Identify hazards and control them so far as is reasonably practicable
- Provide the information, training, instruction, and supervision workers need to work safely
- Consult workers and their representatives on health and safety matters
- Maintain safe plant and systems of work
- Maintain up-to-date procedures for reporting and responding to incidents, and
- Provide workers’ compensation insurance with return-to-work support.
The NSW WHS Legal Framework
The layers of law below govern WHS compliance for employers in NSW.
1. Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW)
The primary legislation. It sets out the duties of PCBUs, officers, workers, and others, and the powers of SafeWork NSW inspectors. The Act is built on the national model WHS laws agreed by Australian governments and is broadly aligned with WHS Acts in most other states and territories.
2. Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW)
The Regulation translates the Act’s general duties into specific operational requirements. It prescribes how to manage particular hazards, including asbestos, hazardous chemicals, falls from height, confined spaces, plant, manual tasks, and psychosocial hazards. It also sets the licensing requirements for high-risk work and the records employers must keep.
3. The Regulator (SafeWork NSW)
The Regulator (SafeWork NSW): SafeWork NSW is the state regulator. Its inspectors enter workplaces, issue notices, investigate incidents, and prosecute serious breaches. SafeWork NSW also operates the licensing system for high-risk work, registers plant items and designs, accredits training providers (of which Sydney Safety Training is one), and runs free advisory visits for small business.
4. Codes of Practice and Australian Standards
SafeWork NSW publishes approved codes of practice that provide practical guidance on how to meet specific WHS obligations. Codes of practice are admissible in court as evidence of what is known about a hazard, risk, or control, so they carry significant weight even though they are not law in the strict sense.
Primary Duty of Care – What Are Your Employer Obligations?
Section 19 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 sets out the primary duty of care.
Every PCBU must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers (including contractors, labour-hire workers, volunteers, and apprentices) while they are at work, and of other people whose safety may be affected by the work being carried out.
SafeWork NSW translates the primary duty of care into practical examples:
- Observe all legal requirements regarding health and safety
- Resource and implement health and safety procedures and programs
- Plan to do all work safely
- Eliminate or minimise risks to workers’ health and safety during all work activities
- Identify health and safety training required for an activity
- Ensure workers undertake appropriate and specific safety training
- Consult workers about health and safety
- Investigate hazard reports and ensure corrective actions are undertaken
- Enable workers to quickly receive and respond to information regarding incidents, hazards, and risks
The phrase “so far as is reasonably practicable” does heavy lifting in WHS compliance. It does not mean perfection, nor does it mean controlling every theoretical risk. It instead weighs the likelihood and severity of harm against the cost, time, and availability of controls to determine what a reasonable person in your position would do.
Officer Due Diligence
If you are a director, CEO, or senior executive with significant influence over a business, you carry a personal duty under section 27 of the WHS Act.
Officers must exercise due diligence to ensure the PCBU complies with its WHS obligations. That means acquiring and keeping up-to-date knowledge of WHS matters, understanding the operations of the business and the hazards involved, ensuring the business has appropriate resources and processes to manage WHS risks, ensuring processes exist for receiving and responding to incident and hazard information, ensuring the business implements processes for complying with its WHS duties, and verifying that those resources and processes are being used. Failure to exercise due diligence is a personal offence, even if the PCBU is also prosecuted.
Worker Duties
Workers also have personal duties under section 28 of the Act: to take reasonable care for their own safety and that of others, to comply with reasonable instructions, and to cooperate with policies and procedures. Serious breaches can lead to individual prosecution and heavy fines, while specific high-risk regulation breaches may trigger immediate on-the-spot penalty notices.
WHS Compliance Training: What Your Team Needs
Training is the most direct way an employer turns the primary duty of care into compliance on the ground. If a worker is injured because they were never trained to handle a hazard, the PCBU has almost certainly breached its duty.
Compliance with WHS legislation requires training across several categories:
General WHS Induction
Every new worker should receive a workplace-specific induction covering site rules, emergency procedures, hazard reporting, consultation arrangements, and where to find first aid and PPE. This is not licensed training, but it is part of meeting the primary duty of care.
General Construction Induction (the “White Card”)
Any person carrying out construction work in NSW must hold a white card. The white card is issued by SafeWork NSW after a learner completes CPCWHS1001 Prepare to Work Safely in the Construction Industry through an approved RTO.
High-risk Work Licences (HRWL)
SafeWork NSW issues licences for specific high-risk activities, including operating cranes, forklifts, scaffolding, rigging, dogging, hoists, pressure equipment, and elevating work platforms with boom length over 11 metres. Each licence requires assessment by an accredited RTO.
Role-specific Safety Training
Workers in confined spaces, working at heights, handling hazardous chemicals, removing asbestos (Class A or Class B), or performing other regulated work need the specific training prescribed under the WHS Regulation. Refreshers are often required to keep skills current – see more about our specific courses further down.
Leadership and Supervisor Training
Supervisors and managers are responsible for the day-to-day operation of the safe systems the PCBU has put in place. They need training in interpreting WHS legislation, leading consultation, managing risk, and lifting safety culture. Sydney Safety Training delivers structured safety leadership training for managers and supervisors that combines core WHS duties with the nationally recognised unit BSBLDR411 Demonstrate Leadership in the Workplace.
Health and Safety Representative Training
Workers elected as HSRs are entitled to a five-day approved training course, delivered by SafeWork NSW-approved providers, to equip them to represent workers in consultation and to issue Provisional Improvement Notices (PINs) where required.
Refresher and Update Training
Many WHS licences require renewal or refresher training at set intervals. Codes of practice and legislative amendments also create ongoing training needs. Treat WHS compliance training as a rolling program, not a one-off. Effective employers maintain a training matrix that maps every role to required training, the last completion date, and the next renewal due date.
Learn more about the importance of health & safety refresher training.
What Compliance Is Required for High-risk Industries?
WHS compliance applies to every Australian workplace, but the requirements bite harder in high-risk industries. NSW has specific regulatory expectations for the following sectors.
Building and Construction
Construction has its own chapter in the WHS Regulation 2025 (Chapter 6) and a suite of construction-specific codes of practice. Beyond the white card, employers must prepare a Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) for any work classified as high-risk construction work, including work at heights over two metres, in confined spaces, near energised electrical services, demolition, structural alterations, and similar. Principal contractors on projects over $250,000 carry additional duties, including WHS management plans.
Working at Heights
Falls from height remain a leading cause of workplace death in NSW. Anyone working at height must be trained in safe work at heights procedures, harness use, anchor points, fall arrest systems, and emergency rescue. SafeWork NSW expects fall prevention to follow the hierarchy of controls, with elimination preferred over fall arrest equipment.
Confined Space Entry
Confined space work is among the most heavily regulated under the WHS Regulation. Entry requires risk assessments, atmospheric testing, permits, standby personnel trained in rescue, and rescue plans. Workers entering confined spaces must hold the nationally recognised unit of competency RIIWHS202 Enter and work in confined spaces or equivalent.
Manufacturing, Warehousing, and Logistics
Plant guarding, manual handling, traffic management, hazardous chemicals, and forklift operations all carry specific WHS Regulation requirements. SafeWork NSW frequently conducts targeted industry blitzes in manufacturing and transport.
Asbestos and Silica Work
Removal of asbestos requires a Class A or Class B licence, depending on the type and quantity. Crystalline silica work, including engineered stone, is subject to NSW-specific rules, including the Silica Worker Register notification requirement.
What Is the Risk Management and Hierarchy of Controls?
Compliance with WHS legislation is built on systematic risk management. The Code of Practice: How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks sets out a four-step approach used across NSW workplaces:
1. Identify hazards by walking the workplace, consulting workers, reviewing incident reports, and reading manufacturer information.
2. Assess the risks by considering how harm could occur, who could be harmed, and how serious the harm would be.
3. Control the risks by applying the hierarchy of controls, starting with the most effective.
4. Review the controls regularly and after any change, incident, or new information.
Three Levels of Hierarchy of Controls
The hierarchy of controls is grouped into three levels under the WHS Regulation, from most to least effective:
Level 1 – Eliminate the hazard
This is the most effective control. Remove the hazard from the workplace entirely wherever reasonably practicable (for example, by disposing of unused chemicals or removing a damaged piece of equipment from service).
Level 2 – Minimise the risk
Where elimination is not reasonably practicable, reduce the risk using one or more of the following:
- Substitution – replace the hazard with something that creates a lesser risk (for example, swapping a hazardous chemical for a safer alternative).
- Isolation – separate the hazard from people through guarding, barriers, or distance.
- Engineering controls – use physical or mechanical means to reduce risk, such as ventilation systems, mechanical lifting aids, or interlocked machine guarding.
Level 3 – Minimise any remaining risk
If a risk still remains after Level 1 and Level 2 controls, apply:
- Administrative controls – safe work procedures, training, signage, job rotation, and supervision.
- Personal protective equipment (PPE) – hard hats, harnesses, gloves, respirators, and high-visibility clothing.
It’s important to note that level 3 controls are the least effective because they rely on worker behaviour and consistent enforcement. They should be seen as providing a layer of support to the previous two levels rather than replacing them.
Documenting your risk management process matters. SafeWork NSW inspectors will look for evidence that you identified the hazard, considered the controls available, made a reasoned decision, and reviewed the outcome. A current risk register, signed-off SWMSs, and meeting minutes that capture consultation are all part of the documented compliance trail.
Safework NSW Notifiable Incident: What to Report and When
NSW employers have a legal duty to notify SafeWork NSW immediately when a SafeWork NSW notifiable incident occurs. A notifiable incident is when a person dies, a person experiences a serious injury or illness, or a potentially dangerous incident occurs.
Serious injury or illness includes:
- Amputations
- Serious head or eye injuries
- Serious burns
- Electric shock
- Scalping, and any injury requiring immediate hospital treatment for medical reasons.
Dangerous incident covers:
- Near-miss events that exposed someone to serious risk even if no one was hurt
- Structural collapses
- Electrical shocks
- Uncontrolled escape of substances
- Falls from height and similar.
To notify SafeWork NSW, call 13 10 50 immediately. SafeWork will ask for an overview of what happened, the injured person’s details and relationship to the business, the injury details, your business details, the immediate action taken to make the site safe, and what further action you will take to prevent recurrence.
You must also notify your workers’ compensation insurer within 48 hours.
Until SafeWork NSW directs otherwise, the site of a notifiable incident must be preserved to allow inspectors to investigate. Disturbing the site without authority is an offence in itself. Significant penalties apply for failing to notify a notifiable incident. The notification duty is separate from the duty to manage the underlying risk, so a failure to notify can compound the underlying breach.
WHS Audits, Inspections, and Enforcement
SafeWork NSW inspectors have wide powers to enter any workplace where they believe work is being carried out, inspect documents, take measurements, interview workers, and issue enforcement instruments. Inspectors do not need a warrant to enter a workplace during normal hours.
If an inspector identifies non-compliance, they can issue:
- Improvement notices requiring the PCBU to remedy a contravention within a stated period
- Prohibition notices directing the immediate cessation of an activity that poses a serious risk
- Penalty notices (on-the-spot fines) for specified offences
- Non-disturbance notices preserving evidence at a notifiable incident site
For more serious matters, SafeWork NSW can pursue prosecution. The regulator can also accept enforceable undertakings as an alternative to prosecution for some matters (other than Category 1 offences), under which the PCBU commits to defined safety improvements.
Internal employer audits sit alongside SafeWork NSW activity. A WHS compliance audit examines whether your safety management system is working as designed. It assesses whether:
- Policies are current
- SWMSs are being used
- Training records are up to date
- Risk assessments are reviewed when work changes
- Corrective actions are being closed out.
Many NSW employers run annual or biannual WHS audits as part of certification to ISO 45001 or as a condition of contracts with major clients. A self-audit before a SafeWork NSW visit gives you a chance to find and fix gaps on your own terms.
Penalties – WHS Non-Compliance Comes at a Cost
The WHS Act creates three categories of criminal offence for failing to comply with WHS duties.
Category 1 (Section 31)
Conduct that exposes an individual to a risk of death or serious injury or illness, undertaken recklessly or with gross negligence. Maximum
- penalties from FY 2025/26:
- Individual: $1,114,475 or 9,038 penalty units and/or 10 years imprisonment
- Individual as PCBU or officer: $2,318,844 or 18,805 penalty points and/or 10 years imprisonment
- Body corporate: $11,150,183 0r 90,424 penalty units
Category 2 (Section 32)
Failing to comply with a health and safety duty where the failure exposes an individual to a risk of death or serious injury or illness, without
- recklessness. Maximum penalties:
- Individual: $223,561
- Individual as PCBU or officer: $447,122
- Body corporate: $2,235,363
Category 3 (Section 33)
Failing to comply with a health and safety duty (no risk-exposure element required). Maximum penalties:
- Individual: $74,849
- Individual as PCBU or officer: $149,575
- Body corporate: $747,628
Penalty unit values are indexed annually to the Australian Consumer Price Index, so these maximums rise each financial year.
What Are the Industrial Manslaughter Changes?
The Work Health and Safety Amendment (Industrial Manslaughter) Act 2024 commenced on 16 September 2024 and applies to conduct that causes the death of a worker or other person, where the duty holder’s conduct was grossly negligent.
Unlike most WHS offences, industrial manslaughter has no limitation period for prosecution, and enforceable undertakings are not available as an alternative to prosecution.
Maximum penalties are 25 years imprisonment for an individual, consistent with the maximum penalty for manslaughter under the NSW Crimes Act, and $20 million for a body corporate. These are now the highest industrial manslaughter penalties of any state or territory in Australia. The NSW Government has established a dedicated unit to prosecute industrial manslaughter cases.
Beyond criminal penalties, non-compliance with WHS legislation has serious commercial consequences. SafeWork NSW prosecutions are public and attract media attention. Workers’ compensation premiums rise after claims. Insurance becomes harder to obtain and more expensive. Government and large corporate contracts increasingly require WHS compliance evidence as a condition of tender. Reputational damage in close-knit industry communities is hard to recover from. The cost of compliance, properly understood, is always lower than the cost of non-compliance.
WHS Compliance Checklist for NSW Employers
Use this checklist as a snapshot of where to focus. It is not exhaustive, but it covers the foundations every NSW employer needs in place.
- Written WHS policy, signed by the most senior officer, displayed and current
- Risk register listing each significant hazard, the controls in place, and the review date
- Safe Work Method Statements for all high-risk construction work
- Documented worker induction process with sign-off
- Training matrix mapping each role to required training and renewal dates
- Current high-risk work licences for relevant staff (cranes, forklifts, scaffolding, and similar)
- White cards held by all workers carrying out construction work
- Health and Safety Representatives elected where workers have requested them, with HSR training completed
- Consultation arrangements documented (toolbox talks, safety committee minutes, and similar)
- Emergency plans, evacuation procedures, and first aid arrangements are current
- Incident reporting procedure and register, with corrective actions tracked to closure
- Notifiable incident procedure: who calls SafeWork on 13 10 50 and within what timeframe
- Workers’ compensation insurance current with icare or a self-insurance licence holder
- Return-to-work programs and rehabilitation arrangements in place
- WHS management system is reviewed annually, with results signed off by officers
Contact Us About WHS Compliance for Employers
Talk to Sydney Safety Training about the courses your team needs to stay compliant.
Call (02) 9892 3370 today.