A code of practice provides details on how to achieve the standards required under the work health and safety (WHS) legislation, by identifying hazards and managing risks.
Under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act), codes of practice are admissible in court proceedings. Courts may regard a code of practice as evidence of what is known about a hazard, risk or control, and rely on it to determine what is reasonably practicable in the circumstances. A person cannot be prosecuted for failing to comply with a code of practice.
A person with duties under the WHS Act can comply with their duties by following another method, such as a technical or industry standard, if it provides a standard of work health and safety equivalent to, or higher than, the code of practice.
An inspector can refer to an approved code of practice when issuing an improvement or prohibition notice and can offer the person to whom the notice is issued a choice of ways in which to remedy the contravention.