10 minutes estimated reading time.

Key takeaways:

• WHS duty holders include PCBUs, officers, and workers, each with clear legal responsibilities.
• PCBUs must provide a safe work environment, systems, and resources.
• Officers are legally accountable for ensuring WHS compliance and leadership.
• Workers have a duty to take care of themselves and others at work.
• Understanding these roles helps reduce workplace incidents and improves safety culture.

Introduction

Workplace safety doesn’t happen by chance—it’s a shared responsibility backed by law. Whether you’re running a company, managing a team, or working on the floor, understanding your legal duties under the Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act is essential.

Australia’s WHS laws assign legal responsibilities to key groups known as duty holders: Persons Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBUs), officers, and workers. Each group has specific legal obligations to keep the workplace safe and compliant. So, who’s responsible for what? Let’s break it down clearly.

What Is a Duty Holder Under WHS Law?

In WHS legislation, a duty holder is anyone who has a duty of care to ensure health and safety at work. That includes:

• Persons Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBUs)
• Officers of the business or undertaking
• Workers
• Other persons at the workplace (e.g. visitors, clients)

Each has specific obligations, and failing to meet them can result in serious legal consequences.

1. Who Is a PCBU?

PCBU stands for Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking. It doesn’t refer to an individual person necessarily—it could be:

• A company
• A sole trader
• A partnership
• A not-for-profit organisation
• Government departments

What Are the Duties of a PCBU?

A PCBU has the primary duty of care under the WHS Act. That means they must ensure, as far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of:

• Workers they employ
• Contractors and subcontractors
• Volunteers
• Any other people affected by the work (including clients and visitors)

Key PCBU Responsibilities:

Area	Duties
Work Environment	Provide safe premises, structures, and fittings
Systems of Work	Implement and maintain safe work procedures
Plant & Substances	Ensure machinery, equipment, and substances are safe and used correctly
Training & Supervision	Provide necessary training, instruction, and supervision
Health Monitoring	Monitor worker health if exposed to risks like hazardous chemicals
Consultation	Consult workers on WHS matters and encourage participation

A PCBU must also comply with codes of practice and regulatory requirements relevant to their industry.

2. Who Are Officers?

An officer is someone who makes or influences significant decisions for the organisation. This includes:

• Company directors
• CEOs
• Senior executives
• Board members

Officer Duties Under WHS Law

Officers have a positive duty to exercise due diligence. They cannot delegate this responsibility. Even if the day-to-day WHS tasks are managed by someone else, officers are legally responsible for ensuring WHS obligations are met.

Due Diligence Requires Officers to:

• Know and understand WHS matters
• Keep up to date with safety knowledge and practices
• Ensure the PCBU has and uses appropriate resources and processes
• Ensure WHS risks are identified and controlled
• Verify that incidents are reported, investigated, and corrective actions taken
• Ensure there’s continuous compliance with duties under the law

Put simply, officers must lead safety from the top. Leadership accountability is not optional.

3. What Are Workers’ Responsibilities?

Under WHS law, a worker is anyone who performs work in any capacity for a PCBU. That includes:

• Employees
• Contractors and subcontractors
• Labour hire workers
• Apprentices or trainees
• Work experience students
• Volunteers

Worker Duties Under WHS Law

Workers must:

• Take reasonable care for their own health and safety
• Not do anything that could harm others
• Follow reasonable instructions from the PCBU
• Cooperate with WHS policies and procedures

This includes:

• Wearing personal protective equipment (PPE)
• Reporting hazards, injuries, and near misses
• Participating in training and consultations

4. Shared Responsibilities in the Workplace

Multiple PCBUs can operate in the same workplace. For example, a construction site may involve:

• A principal contractor
• Subcontractors
• Labour hire companies
• Engineers or designers

In these cases, each PCBU has a duty to consult, cooperate and coordinate with other duty holders to ensure everyone’s health and safety.

For example, if a labour hire worker is injured due to unsafe scaffolding, both the host employer and the labour hire firm may share responsibility.

5. What Happens If Duty Holders Fail?

Failure to meet WHS duties can lead to:

• Improvement notices or prohibition orders
• Fines and penalties (up to millions for corporations)
• Prosecution and jail time (for individuals in serious breaches)
• Reputational damage and business losses

Here’s a quick overview:

Duty Holder	Penalties for Breach
PCBU	Up to $3 million (corporate) or $600,000 and 5 years imprisonment (individuals)
Officer	Up to $600,000 and 5 years imprisonment
Worker	Up to $300,000 and/or 5 years imprisonment

WHS law takes breaches seriously because the consequences can be deadly.

6. WHS Consultations and Worker Participation

All duty holders must actively participate in WHS consultation. This involves:

• Sharing information about safety issues
• Giving workers a chance to express views
• Taking their input seriously before decisions are made

PCBUs must consult:

• When identifying hazards
• When making decisions about controls
• When reviewing procedures
• During changes that affect safety

Some workplaces may have elected Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs) or WHS committees, which further strengthen worker voice and compliance.

Conclusion

Understanding who is responsible under WHS law is crucial to maintaining a safe workplace. Duty holders—whether PCBUs, officers, or workers—must work together to prevent harm, follow procedures, and uphold legal obligations.

Every role matters. Whether you’re leading a business, managing a team, or operating machinery, knowing your duty protects everyone.

Ready to build your WHS knowledge and lead with confidence?

FAQs: Understanding WHS Duty Holders

1. Can a sole trader be a PCBU?

Yes, a sole trader can absolutely be a PCBU under the Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act. The term PCBU (Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking) is broad and includes individuals operating their own business, regardless of whether they employ others. If a sole trader engages contractors, subcontractors, apprentices, or even volunteers, they hold a primary duty of care to ensure the health and safety of those workers and anyone else affected by the work. This means they are responsible for maintaining safe systems of work, providing appropriate training, managing risks, and complying with WHS laws just like a company or larger organisation.

2. Can multiple people be duty holders?

Yes, WHS legislation recognises that more than one person or organisation can be duty holders at the same time. This is common in modern workplaces, especially where contractors, labour hire firms, or multiple businesses operate on the same site. Each duty holder has an individual responsibility to do what is reasonably practicable to ensure health and safety. While they may consult and cooperate with one another, one party’s compliance does not remove the other’s legal obligation. For example, both a host business and a labour hire company have WHS duties to protect labour hire workers.

3. What’s the difference between a PCBU and a worker?

A PCBU is the entity or individual responsible for running the business or undertaking, while a worker is someone who performs work for that PCBU. In some cases, a person can be both—for example, a self-employed tradesperson who hires casual labour. The key difference lies in responsibility: PCBUs have the primary duty to provide a safe working environment, whereas workers must take reasonable care for their own health and safety and follow instructions and procedures. The distinction ensures accountability exists both at the organisational and individual level under WHS law.

4. Are volunteers considered workers under WHS law?

Yes, volunteers can be considered workers if they perform work for a PCBU on a regular and ongoing basis. Under the WHS Act, the definition of a worker is intentionally broad to ensure adequate protection for everyone engaged in work activities, paid or unpaid. This means that if a not-for-profit organisation, charity, or community group is structured as a PCBU and relies on volunteers, it must ensure their health and safety to the same standard as paid employees. In return, volunteers must follow safety procedures, use protective equipment, and cooperate with any reasonable instructions.

5. What does “reasonably practicable” mean in WHS law?

“Reasonably practicable” is a key legal test in WHS law used to determine whether someone has done what could be reasonably expected to ensure health and safety. It involves weighing the likelihood of a hazard or risk occurring, the degree of harm that could result, what the duty holder knows or ought to know about the hazard and ways to eliminate or minimise it, the availability and suitability of controls, and whether the cost of controls is grossly disproportionate to the risk. This standard ensures that duty holders take proactive, informed, and balanced steps to prevent harm in the workplace.