This document provides guidance on the standard of health and safety a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) must meet under the Work Health and Safety Act 2020 (WHS Act) and regulations. A PCBU must do what is ‘reasonably practicable’ to ensure health and safety.
The standard of ‘reasonably practicable’ in health and safety duties only applies to a PCBU. Other duty holders are required to meet different standards. For example, officers must exercise ‘due diligence’ and workers and others at a workplace must take ‘reasonable care’.
The ‘reasonably practicable’ standard is not new in Australian work health and safety law, and this standard is intended to be very high. This is reflected in the WHS Act, which states that workers and other persons should be given the highest level of protection from hazards and risks arising from work, so far as is reasonably practicable.
The WHS Act sets out the definition of reasonably practicable in relation to a duty to ensure health and safety, and the matters to be taken into account in determining what is reasonably practicable in the circumstances.
This guideline explains each of the elements of this definition and provides practical guidance on how to determine what is reasonably practicable.
