Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA), there are a number of protections in place for both Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs) and businesses.

Protections for HSRs

A person or a business cannot discriminate or take other negative steps against a person because of their involvement in workplace health and safety.

Under HSWA, no one is allowed to pressure or mislead people around their roles, powers or entitlements.

HSWA protects a worker's involvement in workplace health and safety when: 

• raising an issue or concern about health and safety
• ceasing work because it is believed to be unsafe or unhealthy
• taking part in resolving a health and safety issue
• taking action to seek compliance
• acting as an HSR, a member of a Health and Safety Committee (HSC), or in another role under HSWA
• using the lawful powers as an HSR or member of an HSC, for example directing a worker to cease unsafe work.

Examples of negative steps

Actions which could be considered negative steps include doing, or threatening to do, any of the following:

• dismissing or refusing the employment of a worker or contractor
• terminating or refusing to enter an agreement with a worker or contractor
• refusing to offer a worker the same work conditions available to similar workers (for example, terms of employment, training or promotion)
• treating a worker differently to similar workers in a way that negatively impacts their employment, job performance or satisfaction. 

It is also against the law if anyone:

• seeks to threaten a person so that they use (or don’t use) a power under HSWA
• seeks to threaten a worker so that they stop being an HSR or member of an HSC
• deliberately tells a worker false or misleading information about HSWA, including:
• their rights
• obligations
• ability to start a process and participate in a process, or
• make a complaint.

If you have any concerns, you can talk to us in confidence.

Protections for businesses

HSWA has checks and balances against improper use of HSR powers, such as:

• limiting the powers to the particular work group the HSR represents
• confining the role to health and safety purposes
• setting some specific limits (for example, access to workers’ personal information)
• involving WorkSafe to help resolve issues, remove an HSR who is acting improperly, or remove a Provisional Improvement Notice (PIN).