Your Role in Workplace Health and Safety: Unraveling Obligations for Apartment Owners and Residents

Apartment Owners and Bodies Corporate: Understanding Health and Safety Responsibilities

In the realm of community title schemes, encompassing units, apartments, and townhouses, a body corporate is established to oversee the collective property on behalf of the owners. This page delves into the health and safety duties of apartment owners, community title scheme bodies corporate, body corporate officers, and on-site managers within such settings.


Duties under the WHS Act:

Owners:
  • Apartment owners are subject to WHS Act duties if they qualify as a 'person conducting a business or undertaking' (PCBU) on the premises.
  • Public safety obligations arise for body corporates regarding high-risk plant and dangerous goods, regardless of their PCBU categorization.
Community Title Scheme Body Corporate:
  • A body corporate, mainly using common areas for residential purposes and not employing workers under a service contract, is not deemed a PCBU.
  • Engaging workers as employees shifts the body corporate into PCBU status, necessitating adherence to WHS duties.
Body Corporate Officers:
  • Officers must exercise due diligence if the body corporate operates as a PCBU, ensuring compliance with WHS Act duties.
  • Volunteer members are exempt from officer prosecution but may face action as workers for WHS Act duty lapses.
On-site Managers:
  • Engaged under a service contract, on-site managers arranging maintenance or short-term rentals may not classify the body corporate as a PCBU.
  • Compliance with WHS Act duties comes into play if the body corporate oversees residential common areas.


High-Risk Plant and Dangerous Goods:

  • Even if not a PCBU, compliance with WHS Act duties is mandatory for the storage and handling of dangerous goods.
  • High-risk plant operation, affecting public safety, invokes WHS duties, particularly for storage exceeding statutory thresholds.


This comprehensive overview aids in understanding health and safety obligations within community title schemes. Further details on non-WHS issues in community title schemes fall under the purview of the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997, administered by the Department of Justice and Attorney-General.


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