Regulating work health and safety in multilateral business arrangements

This article examines the regulation of work health and safety (WHS) in multilateral business arrangements in Australia. The focus is on the regulatory standards set out in the current WHS Acts and on approaches to the monitoring and enforcement of these standards. The article shows that the policy underpinning these Acts is to protect all workers in all kinds of work arrangements arising from new and changing business models, and from all kinds of existing and emerging hazards. It argues that the primary duty of care in s 19 of the Acts clearly covers workers carrying out work in most multilateral work arrangements, but that there is uncertainty about whether the drafting of s 19 is clear enough to achieve this policy objective in all circumstances. The article also examines the positive and proactive due diligence duty on officers, and the extensive inspection and enforcement powers given to WHS inspectorates to ensure compliance with these extensive duties.