Work Health and Safety Act 2011

A health and safety representative may direct a worker who is in a work group represented by the representative to cease work if the representative has a reasonable concern that to carry out the work would expose the worker to a serious risk to the worker’s health or safety, emanating from an immediate or imminent exposure to a hazard.

However, the health and safety representative must not give a worker a direction to cease work unless the matter is not resolved after—

consulting about the matter with the person conducting the business or undertaking for whom the workers are carrying out work; and

attempting to resolve the matter as an issue under division 5.5 (Issue resolution).

The health and safety representative may direct the worker to cease work without carrying out that consultation or attempting to resolve the matter as an issue under division 5.5 if the risk is so serious and immediate or imminent that it is not reasonable to consult before giving the direction.

The health and safety representative must carry out the consultation as soon as practicable after giving a direction under subsection (3).

The health and safety representative must inform the person conducting the business or undertaking of any direction given by the health and safety representative to workers under this section.

A health and safety representative cannot give a direction under this section unless the representative has—

completed initial training prescribed by regulation referred to in section 72 (1) (b) (Obligation to train health and safety representatives) or section 72A (2) (b) (Obligation to train health and safety representatives—major construction project); or

previously completed that training when acting as a health and safety representative for another work group; or

completed training equivalent to that training under a corresponding WHS law.