Principles that apply to WHS duties – new case studies

Safe Work Australia has published 2 case studies for the franchising and outsourcing industries.

The industry case studies practically demonstrate the 4 model WHS Act principles that apply to work health and safety duties and the duty to consult, cooperate and coordinate with other duty holders.

Principles that apply to WHS duties – new case studies

Muhammad’s story

Muhammad owns a café franchise company as part of an emerging Australian café chain, headed by Robusta Holdings. As the head franchisor, Robusta Holdings, sets out requirements for the operation of the cafés operating under its brand.

Both Robusta Holdings and Muhammad’s franchise company are PCBUs, and have a shared duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers working at the cafe and other persons in the cafe such as customers. This means they must consult, coordinate and cooperate activities with each other, and cannot contract out of or transfer their WHS obligations. However, to make sure they both meet their duties and avoid unnecessary duplication of effort, they can enter into an agreement to manage the WHS risk or meet a WHS obligation.

Muhammad is both a worker for and officer in his franchise company. This means he has more than one duty. As an officer he must exercise due diligence to ensure his franchise company complies with its duties as a PCBU.

Anton’s story

Anton owns a call-answering service company, CyberEA Pty Ltd, which employs receptionists in Australia to answer telephone calls on behalf of other businesses. One of CyberEA’s clients is SmithCo, a family law firm.

CyberEA and SmithCo are PCBUs and share a duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of CyberEA’s receptionists.

Both PCBUs must consult, cooperate and coordinate with each other so far as is reasonably practicable to discharge their duties. CyberEA is well positioned to manage many WHS risks as they have control over daily operations. SmithCo takes actions to verify that the receptionists are provided with a safe work environment and WHS risks are being managed.

Download the case studies to learn more

Franchising industry case study - Muhammad’s story

Outsourcing industry case study - Anton’s story

Further information

For detailed information on the 4 WHS principles, and the duty to consult, cooperate and coordinate with other duty holders, see:

Principles that apply to work health and safety duties web page

Principles overview fact sheet

Model Code of Practice: Work health and safety consultation, cooperation and coordination

Model Code of Practice: How to manage work health and safety risks