Occupational Health & Safety

Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) is a professional practice and range of activities aimed at the protection of individuals who are involved in work or employment.

Occupational health and safety activities can reduce employee injury and illness related costs, including medical care, sick leave and disability benefit costs. OH&S may involve interactions among many subject areas, including occupational medicine, occupational hygiene, public health, safety engineering, industrial engineering, chemistry, health physics, ergonomics and occupational health psychology.

In the various Australian states and territories workplace health and safety is governed by a system of laws, regulations and compliance codes which set out the responsibilities of employers and workers to ensure that safety is maintained at work. These state systems are coordinated and overseen by the federal government and a system of national legislation and regulations.

The Work Health and Safety Act 2011 and the Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011 are the legislative instruments which cover occupational health and safety in Australia. Comcare is a department of the Australia federal government which partners with workers, their employers and unions to keep workers healthy and safe, and reduce the incidence and cost of workplace injury and disease. Comcare implements the Australian Government’s policies in federal workplaces to drive social inclusion and productivity.