Consulting with major hazard facility employees
Information for major hazard facility (MHF) operators on their duty to consult.
The full legal definitions of the duties referred to in this guidance are contained in the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 (OHS Regulations) Part 5.2 Major hazard facilities.
You must read the legislation in addition to this guidance.
Who to consult
You must consult with HSRs and employees about all the matters listed below. Employees include:
- independent contractors
- employees of independent contactors
If there are no HSRs, you must consult with employees directly.
What to consult about
As an MHF operator, you must consult with HSRs and employees when:
- identifying major incidents that could happen at the facility, and all major incident hazards
- conducting and reviewing a safety assessment (also known as a risk assessment)
- adopting or reviewing risk controls
- creating and putting in place a safety management system (SMS)
- preparing or revising a safety case
- preparing or reviewing safety roles for employees
- preparing, reviewing, or revising an emergency plan
These duties are in addition to your general consultation duties listed in the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHS Act).
Talking to health and safety representatives (HSRs) and employees helps:
- identify hazards and appropriate risk controls
- confirm that the safety case reflects what happens at the facility
- determine whether risk controls are maintainable
- boost awareness and understanding around managing major incident risks
What is a Safety Case?
A safety case is a document that describes how an MHF operator is safely managing operations and controlling risks at the facility. It's something you must prepare under the OHS Regulations.
How to consult
When consulting with HSRs and employees, you must:
- share information about the health and safety matter up for consultation
- give them a reasonable opportunity to share their views
- take their views into account
It's also recommended that HSRs and employees engage in consultation by:
- participating in the early planning stages of the safety case or the review
- giving feedback on the amount, timing, and method of consultation
- being a part of any steering committee that develops the safety case
- having a say on hazard identification and risk assessment workshops
- reviewing the effectiveness of risk controls against safety performance measures
- checking that systems and procedures reflect what happens at the facility
- checking that risk controls (such as the emergency plan) are reasonably practicable
- talking to WorkSafe about health and safety matters
Tips for effective consultation
- Actively seek employees' views and encourage them to share their ideas.
- Talk to people with different backgrounds, knowledge, experiences and roles.
- Allow time for feedback.
- Listen carefully. Silence doesn't always mean people agree.
- Be open to all feedback and respond constructively to criticism.
- Think in advance about how differences in opinion will be resolved.
- Close the feedback loop by letting everyone know how their views were considered.
- Test the consultation procedure and make improvements early on. If you need, get an independent opinion on your consultation procedure.
- Ensure everyone at the facility is aware of major incident hazards and the control measures in place.
Setting up agreed consultation procedures
As an MHF operator, it's recommended that you have an agreed consultation procedure in place. This should make part of your SMS. It can also be included in your safety case.
If you have an agreed consultation procedure, it must be followed.
If your facility is not yet operational
If you are a new or developing facility, speak to WorkSafe about how you plan to meet your consultation duties.
Relevant regulations
This is a list of OHS Regulations relating to an MHF operator's duty to consult. Click on each regulation to reveal a simple summary.
- Regulation 8 Independent contractors
An employer must provide and maintain a safe working environment for employees and consult with them. Regulation 8 states that these duties towards employees also apply to independent contractors and their employees.
- Regulation 21 Involving HSRs in consultation
Elected HSRs must be given all the information about a consultation matter before employees, unless it is not reasonably practicable to do so. They must be invited to meet with the employer to consult about the matter, and their views must be considered.
- Regulation 380(1) Safety role for employees
The operator of an MHF must develop a safety role for their employees. The safety role must include procedures employees need to follow to help the operator:
- identify major incident hazards and possible major incidents
- adopt or review risk control measures under OHS Regulations 371 and 379
- conduct, document and review a safety assessment
- create and put in place an SMS
- Regulation 380(2) Safety role for employees
The operator must review the safety role for employees if there are any changes, (including changes to the MHF) that would call for employees to have more knowledge or skills to do the role.
- Regulation 388 Consultation with employees and HSRs
The operator of an MHF must consult about the following:
- Identifying major incidents that could occur at the facility and major incident hazards.
- Conducting and reviewing a safety assessment.
- Adopting and reviewing risk control measures.
- Creating and putting in place a safety management system (SMS).
- Preparing and revising a safety case.
- Forming and reviewing a safety role for employees.
- Preparing, reviewing, and revising an emergency plan.
- Regulation 389 Information, instruction and training
The operator of an MHF must provide information, instruction and training to employees about:
- the kind of major incidents that could occur at the MHF
- all major incident hazards
- the implementation of risk control measures
- the content and operation of the SMS
- the emergency plan
- the safety role developed for employees
- Regulation 390 Record of training
The operator of an MHF must make a record of all training provided to an employee and keep that record while the employee is employed at the facility.
- Regulation 391 Further information and access to documents
To comply with Regulation 389 the operator of an MHF must:
- inform employees about the content of the safety case for the MHF, including any revisions
- ensure that the SMS, the safety case and the emergency plan, or copies of these documents, are accessible to employees
- Regulation 392 Response to employee alert at an MHF
If an employee at an MHF informs the operator of anything that they think may lead to a major incident, the operator must let the employee know what (if any) action will be taken.
- Regulation 393 Information and instruction to non-employees
The MHF operator must ensure that any non-employee who enters the facility is, as soon as reasonably possible:
- informed generally about the major incident hazards at the MHF
- instructed about the safety precautions they should take while at the MHF
- instructed about the action they should take if an emergency plan is activated
- Regulation 397 Further information on request
If an MHF operator gets a written request from someone who reasonably believes a major incident might harm their health, the MHF operator must give that person a copy of the information that was shared with the local community about the safety of the MHF, under Regulation 394 and 395 of the OHS Regulations.
- Regulation 367(2)(b) Outline of safety case
The safety case outline must include the scope of consultation that will occur when preparing the safety case.