Implications of the model WHS legislation post the Royal Commission into the Home Insulation Program
The consequences of the WHS legislation on electrical safety is quite startling, but not yet realised. The legislation requires that risks to health and safety should be eliminated, so far as is reasonably practicable.
For instance, a bane of electrical regulators is the home handyman working in a roof space and fiddling with the 240V conductors. The deaths arising from the home insulation Royal Commission also spring to mind.
WHS Disproportionality
The precautionary approach required by the model WHS act forbids, on pain of criminal imprisonment, the exclusive use of target levels of risk (tolerable or acceptable) as a method of establishing whether a situation or circumstance is safe.
Amongst other concerns, this is problematic for those involved in SIL allocation under IEC 61508. The usual comment is; how else can it be done? Actually, it’s quite straight forward.