Is Oh&S Legislation Is the Result of the Vested Interests of Doctors and Lawyers Rather Than Genuine Concern for Employee Health or Management Excellence?

To argue that occupational health and safety legislation is the result of the vested interests of doctors and lawyers rather than genuine concern for employee health or management excellence is to take a sensationalist point of view. Modern democracies worldwide identify the need to allow involvement and consideration of the people in implementing government functions, including legislation. Governments obtain power from the masses. Consequently, they consider the welfare of individuals and organisations when enacting laws.

Occupational health and safety is one such example of legislation that takes into account the interests of individuals and corporations. In this essay the main objectives of Australian occupational health and safety legislation will be discussed along with consideration of the motivations of the Australian Government in developing harmonised health and safety legislation.

The relevant pieces of legislation in this respect are the national Work Health and Safety Act 2012 and the Victorian Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004. Both are accompanied by subsidiary Regulations and Codes of Practice and both have the main objective of providing a framework to secure the health and safety of workers and workplaces.

Modern occupational health and safety legislation in Australia stems from the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1985 (Worksafe Australia, n.d.). Regulations were formulated under occupational health and safety rulings to set the required standards for the management of particular risks including noise, chemicals, machinery and manual handling. Reflecting the wave of occupational health and safety regulation reform that swept through Australia from the mid-1970s, the States and Territories enacted legislation that replaced the traditional style legislation with performance-based legislation imposing broad general duties, with regulations and codes generally abandoning technical, detailed, specification standards, and instead using a mix...